


a romance for the times

by trashf0rmalec



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Raphael Santiago, Background Relationships, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Books, Boys In Love, Character Development, F/M, First Time writing Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Raphael Santiago, Good Parent Luke Garroway, Grumpy Alec Lightwood, I Tried, I'm Sorry, Jace Wayland is a Lightwood, Light Smut, Lightwood Siblings Feels, Love, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Magnus Bane Is A Freewheeling Bisexual, Manipulative Camille Belcourt, Masturbation, Moving, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Mundane Magnus Bane, New School, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Past Magnus Bane/Camille Belcourt, Plot, Shy Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood Friendship, Slow Burn, Some angst, Supportive Isabelle Lightwood, Supportive Jace Wayland, all mundane characters, dkm, for now, i dont know how to tag oops, ish, loads of books, mention of emotional abuse kind of, there are warnings where there is smut if you wanna skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-22 10:39:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 46,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15580131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashf0rmalec/pseuds/trashf0rmalec
Summary: Alec Lightwood and his family have just moved from LA to New York. Which means a new school, new house, new city. Alec is not at all looking forward to living in New York until he meets a beautiful boy in a bookstore in Brooklyn.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> heyoo! this is my first story on ao3! i hope you all like it,, im pretty proud of it :)

Waiting for their parents was a nuisance. Alec Lightwood and his siblings were seated at LA’s best restaurant, in anticipation for their parents to arrive. Alec, Jace, Izzy and Max had been waiting for over a half hour. Alec found it preposterous. If they knew they had an important meeting to attend, they could have called and told them. But, no. Alec had no idea where they were, the four Lightwood siblings had been sitting at the table, waiting not so patiently. 

“I’m hungry.” Whined Max. Isabelle, who was seated next to Max grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair. 

“Mom and Dad aren’t showing up anytime soon, may as well get some food. Come on, Maxie.” Isabelle said, letting go of Max’s hand and straightening out her dress. 

“I’m gonna go with them.” Jace said, getting up from beside Alec. Jace slung his arm over Izzy’s shoulders and walked along beside the two youngest Lightwoods. Alec decide to stay. There had to be someone to greet their parents. Well, that’s if they showed up. 

They had no idea why they were here either. Earlier that day, Alec had received a text instructing him to go to Hunter’s Moon at 6pm with his siblings. No context, no explanation. Alec knew there had to be something big. Alec had not even spoken to his parents in the past two months, let alone have dinner with them. They were always so incredibly busy with work. The Lightwoods were in charge of a huge corporate law firm. Alec’s parents, Maryse and Robert always had called Alec their ‘heir’ and he would inherit their law firm. Alec’s parents handed his future to him on a silver platter since he was born. He had no choice out of it. In truth, Alec had wanted to become an author. He had always loved to write. His thoughts and ideas flowed out onto paper. It was as if his stories had written themselves. 

Alec opened up his phone. He called his parents. 

*calling Mom* 

Alec knew, of the two, his mother was more likely to pick up her phone. Alec’s father always had his secretary pick up his phone. Alec hated answering to his father’s secretary, thus, he called his mother, who was kind enough to pick up. The only time she did not pick up was when she was in a meeting. Which seemed to be the case right now. She usually picked up the phone straightaway. Her phone had soon went to voicemail and Alec cursed under his breath.

He put his phone away and heard a click of heels. He knew that sound anywhere. His sister was approaching. Isabelle had on a fitted black dress, showcasing her perfect body. Her hair was in even curls and was carefully proportioned to drape over each shoulder. Her winged eyeliner was as sharp as ever, making her dark eyes stand out. Her lips were her signature blood red. To top of her look, she was carrying a Prada purse and had on her favourite Louboutin heels. She looked absolutely stunning, as usual. 

Isabelle was carrying a basket filled with fries. Alec did not even know that they carried fries at this restaurant. Every time Max asked for fries here, they always told him ‘we don’t serve those here.’ Alec rolled his eyes every time they said that. What kind of restaurant doesn’t carry fries? Talk about entitlement. 

Jace slid back into the seat next to Alec’s and Isabelle in front of Alec, Max beside her. 

“Did you call Mom?” Izzy asked Alec. 

“Yeah, she didn’t pick up.” Alec said. 

“Crap, that must mean she’s in a meeting.” Jace said. 

“My concern is, how did you manage to get fries here?” Alec asked. 

“I have my ways.” Isabelle smirked. 

“She hit on the waiter.” Jace whispered into Alec’s ear. Alec gave Isabelle a dirty look. 

“I have a body and I should use it to my advantage.” Isabelle countered, biting onto a fry. 

“Why are we here?” Max intervened. 

“Good question, bud. I have no idea.” Alec answered. 

“Maryse and Robert only bring us here when they have huge news.” Jace said. 

“Yeah, but usually they’re on time.” Alec said. 

Jace could not even argue. He just nodded and went back to eating the fries. Maryse and Robert Lightwood had always been big on punctuality. Isabelle and Jace were the opposite. They liked the attention and arrived ridiculously late. They always called it ‘fashionably late.’ Alec never bothered with them. 

“There’s fashionably late and there’s this.” Isabelle groaned. 

“That’s coming from you.” Alec added. Isabelle stuck her tongue out at Alec and Jace laughed. When Alec paid no mind to her, she threw a fry at her oldest brother that hit right on his face. 

“Isabelle!” Alec yelled, that caught most of the restaurant’s attention. Alec, to pay back, grabbed a fry and was just in the midst of throwing it to Alec, when two people stopped right at the head of their table. 

“Alexander, what are you doing?” His Mother asked, raising her voice slightly, trying not to cause more of a ruckus than there already was. 

“Nothing.” He said to his Mother and put down his arm. 

“Good.” His Mother said, standing tall. 

“We apologize for being late.” Robert Lightwood said, sitting on his seat and tucking his chair in. 

“Late? There has to be a new word invented for how long you took!” Isabelle whined. Alec never had the courage to stand up to his parents. Alec had always yearned for their approval, whereas, Isabelle did not care for their opinions. Alec sometimes wished he was like Isabelle. Unapologetically himself and an advocate for what he believed in. 

“Isabelle, that is no way to speak to your Father!” Maryse called. 

“No, no, she has a right to be angry at us.” Robert said, placing his hand on Maryse’s to calm her down. 

Though their Mother picked up her phone, their Father was more down to Earth and a lot more understanding than their Mother. She expected perfection, nothing less from her children. 

“We had a meeting.” Robert explained. 

“We called Mom and she didn’t pick up, so I figured you were in a meeting.” Alec shrugged. 

“Well, shall we order?” Robert asked, rubbing his hands together. The rest of the family nodded and picked up their menus. Alec had trouble picking what he wanted. He always tried something new when he came here. They had only been here a handful of times and it would be disrespectful to not try several dishes of such fine cuisine. 

“What are you getting?” Alec asked Jace. 

“Fettuccine Alfredo.” Jace answered. Of course, his usual order. Alec’s siblings had one dish and then order that same dish for the rest of their lives. Never bothering to try anything new. Alec, in that aspect was more adventurous. He loved trying new foods, especially from new cultures. 

In the end, Alec ended up getting the Zucca Ravioli. Something he had seen before, but never tried. It was a popular dish at the restaurant. 

After the waitress collected all of their menus and left, Robert cleared his throat and folded his hands on the table. He was about to speak. He caught the attention of all the Lightwoods. 

“The reason your Mother and I were so late, was because we were in a meeting.” Robert started. 

“We know.” Isabelle added, rolling her eyes. 

“What you don’t know,” Robert’s voice had a tone, sending a message to Isabelle. “this meeting was to discuss our huge firm merger.” 

“Yeah, you’re merging with the Penhallow’s.” Alec said, waving his hand, to tell Robert to move on.

“But, to merge, we have to move locations.” He said. 

“We’re moving?” The four Lightwood’s called in unison. At that same moment, the waitress came with all their food in a tray. Once all the food was distributed, the Lightwoods placed a cloth on their laps. ‘Manners are everything,’ is what their Mother had always taught them. 

“I can hear your thoughts, kids. Come on, ask your questions.” Maryse encouraged, taking a bite of her pasta. 

“Where?” Jace asked. 

“New York.” Robert said. 

“When?” Isabelle asked. 

“A week.” Maryse answered. 

“How?” Alec asked.   
“We are going to rent an RV and have a moving truck move all our stuff. We are driving across the country.” Robert answered. 

“How long is the drive?” Isabelle asked. 

“41 hours.” Robert answered. Alec almost spit out his ravioli. 41 hours! No way in hell was Alec going to be stuck in a car for 41 hours, especially with his siblings. He would take countless bullets for them, but they were not the most pleasant people to sit with for that long. 

Alec wiped his mouth. Before he could ask anything else, Isabelle butted in, “41 hours! Are you insane?” 

She took the words right out of Alec’s mouth. “Isabelle! Watch your tongue, young lady!” Maryse said, lightly smacking the table. 

Alec was glad Isabelle said it and not him. “I don’t wanna move!” Max whined. 

Alec wholeheartedly agreed. LA was everything he had ever known. The only home he had ever known. Now, he was supposed to abandon his home and move across the country to a new state and start completely new. Their parents had no issue with moving. Alec, Jace, Izzy and Max did. It was the middle of the school year. Sure, they could go and start work right away, they had no problem. They were barely home as it is. The kids had to go to a new school and start completely fresh. Clean slate. They had to make new friends, adjust to a new environment, get with the curriculum, enrol in a new school. Alec’s head hurt just thinking about it. Alec was a junior, Izzy and Jace were sophomores and Max was in 3rd grade. Starting new in these grades was going to be a nightmare. 

“I’m sorry, darling. We have to.” Maryse said, in a gentle voice. 

Their parents had always had a looser leash on Max. The tightest was on Alec, but Max was completely free. Things Alec could never get away with when he was younger, Max did all the time. It was also partly his fault. They all babied Max far too much than necessary. 

The rest of dinner had an uncomfortable silence to it. Alec, Jace, Izzy and Max were sulking in silence, thinking about how miserable they were going to be. They had one week to pack up their stuff and say all their goodbyes. Then, it was off to New York City. 

—

Alec, Jace, Max and Isabelle spent the rest of the week saying their goodbyes and slowly packing up all their belongings. They were still in denial. They had everything here and they were moving where they had nothing.

Alec was sitting in his room, they were leaving the next day. Alec was packing up the last of his belongings. He was folding up a shirt and putting it in his suitcase. He hadn’t even started to pack up all of his books. He had an entire room in the house filled with his books. He called it a ‘mini library.’ Their house in LA was huge. Huge enough to have a room filled with Alec’s books. Even though the room was about to be filled, Alec continuously bought more and more books. Izzy and Jace spent their money on designer brands, Max spent it on video games and Alec spent it on books. He did not see the need to have the newest gaming console or have the newest line from Gucci. All of this stuff was meaningless to him. He had created memories with his books and from reading those books, he had found a love of writing. He not only read and enjoyed the books, he noted every author’s style and how the plot of each story flowed. He used books to make himself a better writer. As Alec read and wrote more, the more he fell in love with it. Sometimes Alec sat in his library for entire days and was reading. He was going to miss his library the most. 

Alec walked into Jace’s room, to see it was almost entirely packed. He just had to pack his electronics and some toiletries. Other than that, Jace’s room was completely empty. 

“Hey, do you have any empty boxes?” Alec asked. 

“Yeah.” Jace said, hopping off of his bed and walking in towards his closet. 

“Here.” Jace said, walking with flattened boxes in his hands and handing them to Alec. 

“Thanks.” Alec said. 

“Hey, you want some help?” Jace asked. 

“I’d love some.” Alec said. 

“Great.” Jace said, following Alec. 

Jace followed Alec into a room he had never been in before. He was astonished when he saw inside it. It was completely filled with books. He realized this is where Alec hides out all the time. Jace never bothered to come in this room. He thought it was empty or storage. 

“I’ve never been in here.” Jace said, looking around. 

“I know. I’ve made sure of it.” Alec smirked. 

“Rude! I thought you loved me.” Jace said, faking being offended. 

“You thought wrong.” Alec said, opening a box and walking over to the first shelf. 

Him and Jace stood side by side, carefully piling Alec’s books into the boxes. Alec made extra sure that all of his books went unharmed. 

“You really need all of these?” Jace asked. 

“Yeah.” Alec said. 

“You know, there are book stores in New York, you can buy stuff from there.” Jace commented. 

“Yeah, but these books have memories.” Alec said. 

“That’s the point of moving, Alec. Starting new. Making new memories.” Jace said. 

“Maybe I don’t want to.” Alec argued, continuing to pile the books into more boxes. 

“Alec, I don’t want to either. Maybe there’s a silver lining here. You don’t have to hide anymore.” Jace said. 

“I’m not hiding.” Alec hissed. 

“Okay, but, no one in New York knows you. You can be yourself. You can come out.” Jace said. 

“How do you think Mom and Dad are going to take it?” Alec argued. Jace stayed silent. Knowing very well what the answer to that question is. 

“I’ll tell you. When I tell them I’m gay, they’re going to disown me and throw me out of the house.” Alec almost yelled. He stayed quiet enough to make sure no one heard, but was loud enough to get his point across. 

“You don’t know, Alec. Maybe they’ll be angry at first and then they’ll come around. You’re their first born. They love you.” Jace said. 

“I don’t wanna talk about this anymore. Can we go back to packing?” Alec asked.   
Jace simply nodded and said, “Whatever you need.” Alec gave him a faint smile and went back to placing his books in the boxes.

At the end of the day, they had to move all the boxes downstairs to the front of the house, so they were easier to pile into the moving truck. Jace and Alec successfully packed 10 boxes filled with books. Carrying them proved to be more difficult than they imagined. 

“By the angel, Alec! My arms are falling off!” Jace complained. 

“You’re always boasting about how strong you are. Time to live up to it, brother.” Alec said patting his brother on the shoulder. 

“Don’t hurt the ego.” Jace said, giving in and getting more boxes. 

“It’s the only tactic that works.” Alec winked. 

Jace only laughed and the two boys continued bringing down boxes. Isabelle and Max weren’t any help. They were too emotional. Every time Alec or Jace came within sight of Isabelle, she’d wrap her arms around them and drown them and herself in her tears. They loved their sister, but they’d prefer not having their t-shirts soaked every time they came within sight of her. Therefore, Alec and Jace had to take the long way around the house to grab their stuff, ensuring that they avoid Isabelle at any cost.

Once all the boxes were downstairs, Jace and Alec stared at all of the boxes and their empty home. 

“It’s really happening.” Alec breathed out. 

“Yeah. It just hit me.” Jace chuckled, trying to hold in his emotions. Alec pursed his lips and closed his eyes for a second. Taking in all of what was happening. Once, he thought he was at terms with it, he opened his eyes to see Jace still standing next to him. 

“Good work today.” Alec said, patting Jace on the back. 

In one swift movement, Jace turned his body around and buried himself in Alec’s arms. Alec did not hesitate to hold him. 

“I’m gonna miss it here, Alec.” Jace cried. 

“I know, buddy.” Alec said, cradling his head. 

“I’m leaving the only place I could ever be close to my biological parents ever.” Jace said.  
Alec realized. Jace’s parents’ graves were in LA. Jace was family in ways blood could not compare to. Jace knew that. But, he also missed his parents. It had been almost 12 years and it still doesn’t hurt less. He lost his parents at a young age. Maryse and Robert were kind enough to bring him into their family. As far as Alec, Izzy and Max are concerned, Jace is a Lightwood. Jace feels as if he were to be cheating his parents if he took the Lightwood name instead of keeping the Herondale name. Jace kept these thoughts to himself because he knew if he told Alec, Alec would call him absurd and say he’s closer than any of his blood relatives. Jace and Alec are not only brothers, but they are best friends. 

Alec only held him tighter. “They’d want you to be happy. They’d want you to move on. If you ever need to visit them, I’ll come with you. You know I’d follow you to the ends of the Earth.” Alec whispered to him. Alec heard Jace stop sobbing. 

“Thanks, Alec. I know we are never touchy-feely, but I love you.” Jace said, trying his best to give him a smile. Though Jace’s smile was not the biggest one Alec had seen, it had been his most genuine one. Alec smiled back at his brother. 

—

The next morning was a hassle, to say the least. The Lightwood’s were all over the place. The movers had come too early in the morning to be legal. Alec had been awake since 5am, and the movers arrived at 5:30am.

Alec had trouble sleeping. He was thinking about what Jace had told him the day before in the library. About him having a clean slate, and being able to be himself. Alec liked to think he was himself in LA. But, he was constantly living under the burden of standards and expectations of his parents. In New York, no one knew him, he could be whoever. No one knew his parents. There was so much room for growth and change. 

Alec had been thinking about what he really wanted. About college and about his career. About his future. From his parents’ perspective, his career choice is unrealistic. As much as Alec did not want to care about what his parents thought, he did. Every single thing Alec had ever done was to please his parents. Alec had never done anything for himself. He had never realized that until now. Still, he felt as if what he thought was wrong. His career choice is unconventional and unrealistic. He just wants his parents to be proud of him. He knows whatever he does, Jace and Izzy will back him up. He loves them for that. 

Alec was then snapped out of his thoughts when he peered out his window and saw two moving trucks parked outside. Alec figured instead of laying there and overthinking all his life choices, he would go and help. 

Alec slid on a black t-shirt and tugged on a pair of grey sweats over his boxers. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, before packing them in his backpack that he’d carry with him consisting of his laptop, phone, chargers, food, a new book he bought and lotion. 

Alec ran down the stairs and started picking up the boxes and bringing them outside. He thought about asking Jace for help, but Jace had a rough day the day before, he deserved to sleep. 

The movers were confused when they saw Alec moving the boxes. 

“Mr. Lightwood, you aren’t supposed to help.” One of the movers said. 

“I was up, figured I’d help and you all would have to put in less effort. It’s too early to be humane.” Alec joked, picking up the last box. 

“Oh, and please call me Alec. Mr. Lightwood is my father’s name.” Alec called over his shoulder. Alec walked over to the truck and placed the last box in the truck. 

As soon as everything was packed, Alec decided it was time to wake his beloved siblings. Alec’s parents seemed to be awake already. He heard voices from their room. He decided to leave it alone, probably for the best. 

Alec barged into Jace’s room first. “Jace!” Alec yelled. Nothing. Jace was laying there like a lifeless body. Alec decided to kick things up a notch. He yelled in Jace’s ear.

“Jace!” He yelled directly into Jace’s ear. Jace just moaned and turned around to face the other side. 

Alec decided to take things to drastic measures. He lugged Jace’s covers and blankets of him, causing Jace’s naked torso and legs to be exposed to the cool air-conditioned atmosphere. The only article of clothing on Jace’s body was his boxer briefs. Jace jerked right up and fought to get his covers back. 

“Alec! You asshole!” Jace yelled. 

“Rise and shine!” Alec said, with a malicious grin on his face. Jace only whined. 

“Give me my covers!” He yelled. 

“Nope, get up.” Alec said. Jace waved a dismissing hand and hit his head on the pillow again. He needed sleep. He too, had a sleepless night. He was thinking about his parents and how much he misses them. 

“Come on, Jace!” Alec said, shaking Jace’s body. 

“Alec! Go away!” Jace yelled. Alec only laughed. His siblings always teased him, now it was his turn to give them pay back. 

Alec ran into Jace’s ensuite bathroom. “Finally.” Jace muttered, Alec heard. Alec grabbed Jace’s toothbrush holder and filled it with freezing cold water. Without missing a beat, Alec ran over to Jace and dumped the water right on his face. As soon as the water hit Jace’s face, he jumped out of his bed and was now standing on his feet. 

“Okay! I’m awake.” Jace said, basically crawling to his bathroom. Alec flashed a victorious grin and was now headed to Isabelle’s room. 

“Isabelle Lightwood! Rise and shine!” Alec said, opening up her curtains to reveal a blazing sunlight, hitting right to Isabelle’s face. Alec laughed. 

“Alec! Go away!” Isabelle whined. 

“Jace said the same thing and I dumped ice water on him. You want the same, sister dearest?” Alec asked. 

That caught Isabelle’s attention. She was up in a second and in the next she was in her washroom. Alec clapped his hands and rubbed them together. Now was the hardest one. Max.  
Alec, very softly opened the door to Max’s room. He carefully slid through Max’s door and into his room. The room had a little bot of light because of the sun glinting through the translucent curtains. Max was sound asleep. Alec smiled. His baby brother was so precious. 

Alec tippy toed further into the room and sat down on Max’s bed beside him, very carefully. He wanted to wake up his baby brother in a kinder way then he did his other siblings. He rubbed Max’s arm, as he was facing the opposite direction of Alec. Alec peered over his arm while rubbing it and whispered, “Max time to get up.” 

Max groaned and continued on sleeping. Alec smiled and shook his head. He knew he’d end up having to wake Max up the hard way, and that was something he did not want to have to do. 

He said, again, in a louder voice this time, “Max, buddy. Time to get up.” Alec continued rubbing his arm. 

“5 more minutes.” Max whined and continued sleeping, moving the arm that Alec was rubbing so Alec knew to go away. Alec decided he was not going to be on the bad side of all his siblings today, he exited Max’s room silently and went back to Isabelle’s room. Isabelle’s room was empty, she was nowhere to be seen. Alec walked over to her closet, that had been rid of the absurd amount of clothing she owned. There was only one other place she could be. Her washroom. 

The washroom door was shut. Alec assumed she was in there and he decided to knock on her door. Alec hit the door with his knuckle twice, softly, before backing away. 

“Who is it?” Isabelle chirped. She seemed to be in a better mood this morning. 

“Alec.” Alec said.

“Come in.” She said, less enthusiastic. Alec obeyed and opened the door, which had not been locked. Isabelle was in the midst of doing her makeup. 

“You know we’re going to be in an RV for 41 hours, right?” Alec said. 

“Just because the ride isn’t exquisite, doesn’t mean I can’t look fabulous during it.” Isabelle argued. 

Alec chuckled. “Fair enough.” 

“What do you want Alec?” Isabelle asked, contouring her sharp cheekbones. 

“I need you to wake Max up.” Alec said. 

“You couldn’t do it.” Isabelle said. 

“Yeah. I feel bad.” Alec said. 

“You didn’t feel bad doing it to Jace and I.” Isabelle huffed. 

“Well, you guys are annoying.” Alec said.

“You take that back!” Isabelle shrieked. “You love us.” 

“I do.” Alec laughed. “So will you do it?” He pleaded. 

“Fine.” Isabelle sighed. 

“Thank you.” Alec said, wrapping her in a quick hug and getting powder all over his shirt. 

“You’re welcome.” Isabelle chuckled. 

Alec smiled as he left her washroom and made his way downstairs, where his parents were making coffee. 

“Good Morning, Alexander.” His father said. Alec hated his name. He thought it was much too posh and did not suit him well. He preferred Alec. His parents especially used Alexander when they were furious at him. He had awful memories with his full name. He liked Alec. It was short and meant nothing in particular. Come to think of it, none of the Lightwood’s liked their full names. Izzy’s was Isabelle, Alec’s was Alexander, Jace’s was Johnathan Christopher and Max’s was Maxwell. It was safe to say why Jace needed a nick name. All of their names had been to formal, and the Lightwood siblings were anything but formal. 

“Good Morning.” Alec replied. He opened the pantry to reveal a empty cupboard. Alec groaned. 

“Alexander?” His mother called. 

“Hmm?” Alec asked. 

“Use your words.” His mother said. 

“Yes, mother.” Alec answered. 

“Did you help the movers this morning? One of the movers told us you did.” She said. 

“I did.” Alec replied. 

“It wasn’t your job to.” Maryse said. 

“I wanted to.” Alec said. 

“Alexander, we appreciate you being compassionate, but they have jobs and we pay them to do their jobs. You need not intervene. They are poor, filthy people. There’s a class difference. You will not associate yourself with people below you. Understood?” His mother explained. Alec was confused, he had done nothing wrong. He was simply just helped the movers. If anything, his parents should be commending him on his kindness, instead they are telling him to do the opposite. 

As much as Alec wanted to tell them they were wrong and they were just being ignorant, Alec simply listened to what his mother said, afraid to disappoint them more if he told them how he actually felt. “Of course. Sorry mother.” Alec said. 

“Good.” His mother said. 

Alec could not be here anymore. He decided to go back upstairs and just grab his backpack. He laid on his bed for the last time and looked up at the ceiling. He was never going to be here again. Their parents had sold the house. There was no going back now. They were moving to New York, that was that. 

Alec opened his phone to look at their new address in New York. He had found it on the moving truck. Alec typed in the address on Google Maps.   
What came up was a penthouse in Manhattan. Alec looked inside the penthouse and in all of the rooms. It was impressive. He did quite like it. He knew though, as luxurious and wonderful his new home was, he was going to miss the one he was currently in immensely. His entire childhood was spent in this house. Every huge milestone Alec had hit was celebrated in this home, and he was leaving it. 

“Alexander! Isabelle! Johnathan! Maxwell! Time to leave!” He heard his mother call fro downstairs. Alec sighed. He grabbed his backpack, shoved his phone into his pocket and walked downstairs. Jace behind him, Izzy behind him and Max up last. They all had a backpack slung on their shoulders and frowns on their faces. 

“Good, you’re all here.” Maryse said. “Pile into the RV.” She instructed. They all nodded and walked out the door and into the RV. The RV was huge. It had more than enough space to accommodate the Lightwood family. The best part was, they did not have to sit on the seats all day, they could take a nap or do whatever.

After the Lightwood kids had piled into the RV and were all seated with their belongings next to them, Maryse walked in. 

“Okay, so the fridge is stocked with food, the washroom is available and the beds are all made. The electricity works and there is a wifi box in here too. The password is on the TV cable. I trust you all will get it. I expect you all to behave and not act like wild animals on this trip. Your father and I will be at the front if you need anything.” She instructed. The kids simply looked at each other, then back to Maryse who they nodded at. Once all instructions were given, their journey had begun. As the RV started moving, Alec, Izzy, Jace and Max all looked out the window, silently saying goodbye to their home. Izzy and Max burst into tears again. Jace and Alec each grabbed one of them and wrapped them into a hug. Alec got Max and Jace had Izzy. 

When Alec and Jace had managed to calm Izzy and Max down, they all went to their own individual parts of the RV, immersing in themselves and forgetting about everyone else. 

—  
Over 41 hours later, they had finally arrived in New York City. The drive was not worth it, to say the least. In the beginning, everything was all great, but then, about 5 hours later, everyone was driven crazy. They were cooped up in this small RV for over 40 hours. They had never been more grateful when they could finally get out of the RV. 

“Remind me to never move across the country.” Alec muttered. 

“Amen.” Jace and Izzy mumbled in unison. Alec chuckled. 

They had survived through the dreadful drive, now they had to unpack. They had one day to do all of that. They had left on Thursday and had now arrived on Saturday night. They had all of Sunday to get done all of their chores and errands, before they could start school. Speaking of school, they had to enrol in one of those too, tomorrow morning. 

Right now, all Alec wanted to do was read a good book. He had finished the one he was reading three times along the entire trip. He refused to read an ebook. He hated them. He thought they had defeated the purpose of a book. It was less meaningful and the experience is less invigorating when you read an ebook. With the actual book, you are completely lost in the words on a page and the ebook makes that experience less rich and ruins it. 

Alec and Jace had watched a lot of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Now that they were actually moving to New York, they wanted to check out some of the sites and the buildings in the show. Although they knew it wasn’t filmed in Brooklyn and they lived in Manhattan, Alec was sure there had to be some similarities.

Their penthouse ended up being in a tall building. Alec was sure that his parents would take nothing less than the top floor of a building. Great. They had to carry all those boxes to the top floor. Just as Alec and Jace were about to walk inside the building, carrying boxes, they were stopped by their parents. 

“Alexander, we told you, we have movers for a reason. Put those boxes back, you as well Johnathan.” Maryse instructed. 

Alec and Jace did as told and placed the boxes back on the floor. They entered the building and asked the receptionist at the front for their house number. Their father had already taken the liberty of naming the penthouse to the Lightwoods. 

“Hey, um, we’re the Lightwood’s, which penthouse number are we at?” Jace asked. He knew Alec was too shy for these situations. 

“Let me check that for you.” The receptionist said. She typed up the Lightwood name on the computer and came with the number. 

“You guys are on the 17th floor, and the first penthouse is yours. If it helps, you’re on the top floor. So your house number is 17000.” She chirped. 

“Who would’ve guessed.” Alec muttered.

“Thank you.” Jace said, tapping the counter twice with his palm and walking away. Alec followed. 

They had walked into the elevator and were waiting patiently to go to the top floor. Jace was tapping his feet on the ground, making a constant sound that was driving Alec nuts. He balled his hands into a fist and dug his fingernails into his palm, trying to stay calm. Jace had several annoying tendencies that Alec had learned to live with, but this one absolutely drove him crazy. He knew Jace had a problem of having to move constantly and was in a state of unrest all of the time. That’s why he kept it to himself. He knew one day he would explode. 

This elevator ride was taking much longer than expected. Alec decided to plug his headphones in his ears and tune out the sound. Alec scrolled through his playlist and could not find even one song worth listening to. During the drive, he had listened to all of his songs so many times, he was without a doubt sick of them. He needed to download new songs. The noise still absolutely made him want to scream, so he gave in and played a random song. He knew any song on his playlist was better than the foot tapping. 

Finally, after what felt like a million years, Jace and Alec arrived to the top penthouse. Jace took out the key his parents had handed him before coming in to open the door. Him and Alec stood there, both incredibly anxious to see their new home. They knew they’d have to find the best room to claim before Izzy and Max did. Their puppy eyes and pouts would not work this time.   
“Crap.” Jace cursed, struggling to fit the key into the lock. He had always been terrible with locks. What were their parents thinking handing the key to Jace of all people? Of course, their parents were rarely home, if ever, so they would not know this piece of information. 

“Let me do it.” Alec said, reaching for the key. Jace backed off and Alec tooth key out, slid it back in, pushed on the door a little and twisted the key until the door was unlocked in one smooth movement. Jace was astonished as to how Alec did it so well every time. Izzy would always lock her doors when she threw a fit, Alec had learned to pick locks that way. Safety pins often were more effective than the actual key. 

Alec twisted the handle and pushed the door open. He took his first step on the gorgeous hardwood floor. The penthouse was more beautiful than Alec had seen in the pictures. The ceiling was incredibly high and the windows were huge. The house had a minimalist vibe. Alec knew his parents intended to keep it that way. The furniture was already set. Their parents were as thorough as always. 

The house looked incredible. It looked as if it had been just newly furnished. Alec dropped his backpack on the floor and walked more inside to see the rest of their stunning home. Alec walked towards one of the gigantic windows and peered outside. They were so high up. Alec had a breathtaking vantage point. You could see all of New York from there. The bright lights of Times Square lit up the entire city. This was certainly a view Alec could get used to. 

In this moment, he had forgotten all about his old home and was admiring the beauty of his new home. At loss for words of how much he adored the way it looked. 

Alec then remembered why he came up here in the first place. Jace was nowhere to be seen. He had probably chosen his room already. Alec, Izzy and Jace knew the best room was the room furthest from their parents. Alec assumed Jace already chose the room furthest from the master bedroom. Alec walked upstairs to see a naked room. Like his, from before. He had to note down to buy all of his furniture tomorrow too. There was a mattress laying in the smack middle of the room. That was his bed for the day. 

He walked into the room beside his, the last room of the hall. Jace was laying on the mattress, on his phone. 

“Dude, we don’t have any wifi.” Jace said, sitting up and facing Alec. 

Alec leaned against the door, “I’m almost 100% sure that if Mom and Dad set up the wifi. They just have to tell us the password.” Alec said. 

“True.” Jace said. 

“There’s so much to do and only a day to do it all in.” Alec complained. 

“I know. I have no idea where to start.” Jace said, scratching his head. 

They suddenly heard movement downstairs. They assumed their parents and siblings had arrived. Either that or it was the movers. Jace leaped out of his bed and walked downstairs alongside Alec to see who it was. 

Turns out, it was just the movers. They were placing down boxes. Alec had labelled all of his boxes to make it easier for him to find his luggage. Alec noticed that they had an extra room downstairs. He assumed it was a closet. He walked into the room and saw that it was a huge walk in closet. Alec decided to claim that as his ‘library.’ Of course, he would have to donate some of the books. There was not nearly enough space to accommodate all of his books. Alec also made a mental note to head to the book store to donate these. 

Once all of the boxes and suitcases were moved upstairs, Jace and Alec headed to work to move everything where it belonged. Their parents hadn’t bothered to bring any cutlery or furniture, claiming to want to buy new stuff. Alec noticed that they did buy new stuff. The only boxes were all of their belongings. Alec lugged all of his boxes and suitcases up the stairs and set them in his room. 

Then, Alec brought all of his books into the extra closet. Alec knew there already was a closet for all of their coats. Their mother was not one to keep clutter, so he knew this closet was of no use to their parents, or really, anyone in their family.Alec dragged all the boxes of books into the closet. He decided he would set up his closet first, and keep all of his toiletries, then he would set up his books. 

Alec, himself was exhausted. Though it was only a mere 9pm, over 40 hours in a mobile home with 5 other people makes you exhausted in one way or another. Alec was determined. He had way too many things to do before Monday and one day to do them all was not nearly enough time. Alec decided that he would at least sleep in a little tomorrow, if he got all of the errands to be done at home that could be done right now.   
Alec decided not to waste anymore time, he immediately started unpacking all of clothes. Unlike Jace and Izzy, Alec did not just throw all of his outfits in his suitcase. He carefully folded them. So, this process was made a significant amount easier. Alec took a stack of t-shirts and placed them on the shelf. He did that with the rest of his t-shirts as well. He folded all of his sweats, jeans and other pants, then placed them all on the shelf on the other side. Alec then, took his beloved sweaters and dress shirts, and carefully hung them on the hangers provided by the home. Alec was done setting up his closet in a matter of minutes. He did not have a ridiculous amount of clothing like Jace or Isabelle. 

Though, he did not have a ridiculous amount of clothing, he did have an absolutely ludicrous amount of books. He took in a deep breath and started to shelve the books as they were back in LA. He was careful to take out the books he figured he’d donate. It was extremely difficult for Alec to decide to give up any of his books, he had to. That way, he could also get more. He left room for new books as well. In the end, Alec had picked out 45% of his books to donate. Which was a considerable amount, considering he never let his own siblings touch them, and he was going to give them to a stranger to let some other stranger buy it. The thought of Alec losing his books was much too painful. 

He decided he had to rip the bandaid off and the first thing he would do, was donate those books. As Alec was walking out, leaving the boxes of to-be-donated books in the closet, his parents and youngest siblings entered. 

Isabelle had two pizzas in her hands and a grin plastered upon her face. Alec could not help but smile back at his baby sister. Though she was only a year younger than him. 

“Jace! Food!” Alec called. In a heartbeat, Jace was down the stairs. He must have been starving. 

The entire family dug into the food. They sat in silence. Alec and his siblings preferred it like that. This way, no arguing or unpleasant conversations had to occur. Which were bound to happen every time they spoke. 

“Alexander, Isabelle, Johnathan, we have enrolled you into a school.” Maryse started. Alec was both relieved and nervous. His parents must have enrolled them in some private school. But, that was one thing off of his list to do tomorrow. 

“Which school?” Isabelle had the courage to ask. 

“The Brooklyn Institute.” Robert said, “You all start Monday.” He continued. They all groaned. Ugh school. 

Alec went back to eating. “Also, you can take our credit cards to go furniture shopping tomorrow.” Maryse said. 

“I was going to already.” Isabelle stated. Jace and Alec snickered. Maryse shot them a look and they both straightened out. Although her glance may have worked on Alex and Jace, Izzy was incorrigible. She sat there smiling and continued to devour her pizza. 

After pizza was done, Alec was ready to call it a night. He was exhausted and wanted nothing to do with anything or anyone at the moment. He slouched up the stairs and when he finally entered his room, he fell down on his bed, face-first.

He was just about to enter into his dream utopia, where he didn’t have to hide from his parents, but he was awoken by Izzy running into his room and yelling, “I want this room!” 

Alec was in no mood to deal with any of his siblings’ crap at the moment. He tuned Izzy out, as he usually did when she talked about clothes or fashion, something Alec had no interest in. He just watched her talking about it. Something she was truly passionate about. Her eyes gleamed hen she talked about it and the smile on her face didn’t fade. 

Alec continued sleeping. He was about to slip into the utopia. A millisecond before he was in his dreamland, Izzy came up to him and shook him up. 

“Alec!” She whined. 

“Go bother Jace.” Alec said, waving her off. 

“I want this room.” She complained. 

“My stuff’s already here.” Alec argued. 

“Too bad, you have like two things anyway.” Izzy said. 

“You’re hopeless, you know that?” Alec said. 

“You love me anyway.” She said. 

Alec chuckled. She didn’t even have to bust out the puppy eyes. He gave in and walked out of the room. Into the room next to it. Max had decidedly taken the room next to their parents. 

Alec didn’t waste time. He ran into the room, shutting the door and lights off and face planted onto the pillows on the mattress. He immediately slipped into his dreamland, not being able to be awoken by anyone at the moment. 

—

Alec had slept at a good 11pm. He was now awake at 6am. He was always a light sleeper. Most places would not be open by this time. He decided to hop into the shower. He stank. That was not a mystery. His hair was oily and his clothes had been drenched in his body odour. Alec was doing everyone and himself a favour when he went to shower. 

After Alec was sure he was clean, he walked out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist and spun another towel on his shoulders. He used said towel to dry off his hair. Alec realized all of his clothes were in Isabelle’s room. He realized. He knew, for a fact, that she would be sleeping. She hated mornings. Alec decided to slip into her room, silently, grab a shirt, underwear, jeans and run out. 

Alec quickly slipped into the room. Making as minimal noise as possible. Once he had passed through the room, he switched on the light switch to the closet. Only, the light for the room turned on. 

“Crap.” He muttered under his breath. He quickly turned off the light, hoping Isabelle wasn’t awake. She was still as deep in her sleep as she was before. Alec took a sigh of relief and then opened the closet door. The door was more squeaky than he imagined. He opened it carefully, fully turning the handle to make as little noise as possible. The door still made more noise than Alec would have liked. Alec gritted his teeth, trying hard to make as little noise. He also kept peeing over his shoulder to see if Isabelle was waking up or not. Once the closet door was wide enough for Alec to slip through, he slipped in and shut the door. The door slammed harder than he would have liked. He forgot that Izzy was still asleep. 

The door had been something because Isabelle was now waking up. Alec heard rustling in her bed. She groaned and yawned like she did everyday. Now was not the time to panic. Alec had to find his clothes and try to get out of there without her noticing anything. 

Izzy got out of bed and Alec heard footsteps. Footsteps coming towards him. He gulped an in panic, he searched for his clothes, hoping to at least get some underwear on before Isabelle comes in. 

As Alec was searching for his underwear, which he forgot where he placed. He finally found it with all of the socks. Was he really that tired that he placed his underwear with the socks? Alec decided to forget about that and he slipped it on. Right as he was done, Isabelle opened the door wide. 

She gasped at her sight. “Izzy, I— um, I was,” Alec started. 

“Oh please, Alec. It’s not anything I haven’t seen before.” Izzy said.

Alec felt a blush arise on his cheeks, spreading as far back to his ears. Alec chuckled. 

“But, hurry up.” She encouraged. 

“Right.” Alec said, turning back and grabbing a random shirt and jeans. 

“Thanks, Izzy.” Alec said, quickly pecking her forehead. She giggled and Alec ran out. Alec ran into his room and quickly dried himself off more and slid into his clothes. At this point, it was 7:30am. Alec took a shower longer than he intended to. He had a lot on his mind, to say the least. 

Alec’s parents were awake at the point and they were in the kitchen, eating breakfast. 

“Good Morning.” Alec said. 

“Good Morning, Alexander.” His mother chirped. She was in a jubilant mood today. Alec found that odd. 

“I’m going to the bookstore.” Alec said. He opened the fridge, expecting it to be empty, but it was filled. Alec was in awe. When did this happen? 

“I asked Annamarie to get food.” His mother explained. 

“Dad’s secretary came here?” Alec gawked. 

“Yes.” His mother answered. Alec didn’t want to know the rest of it. He decided to grab an apple and eat that. 

“Can I borrow the car?” Alec asked. 

“It’s on the key rack beside the door.” Maryse called. Alec understood. He grabbed the keys and the boxes of books. He had about 4 boxes of books. 

“Alec! We’re coming with!” Isabelle yelled from afar. 

Alec turned around to see Izzy and Jace ready. At least he wouldn’t have to come upstairs 4 times. He shrugged and they got the message. 

“Iz and Jace are with me!” Alec called over his shoulder. 

“They have to eat!” Maryse called. 

“I’ll buy them something.” Alec said, closing the door behind him. Jace had two boxes, he had too much pride to let Alec take two boxes. Izzy had one box and so did Alec. 

“Alec, did you stuff rocks in here?” Izzy asked. 

“They’re books. I’m donating them to the bookstore. Or maybe they’ll pay me. I don’t know.” Alec shrugged. 

When they reached the elevator, they dropped their boxes on the floor as they waited to go down. Izzy, Jace and Alec all wriggled their arms and hands, preparing to hold the heavy boxes again. It seemed as if their parent had bought a new car and sold the ones in LA. Alec was unsure which car was their’s. Izzy, however knew. 

“Which car is it?” He asked. 

“It’s a white BMW, sedan. 5 series.” She said. 

“Got it.” Alec said. 

Alec scouted around for a white BMW. There were way too many to count. 

“More information.” Alec said. Izzy groaned and took the lead. 

“I remember where Mom and Dad parked the car.” She said. 

She took them to the complete end of the parking garage. Did their parents realize that groceries were a thing and bringing them up was going to be hell on Earth. When they finally reached the car, Alec opened the trunk. Jace was the first one to place all of his boxes down. He screamed either in pain or victoriously. Alec had no idea. Izzy was next, and Alec after. They all piled into the car, Alec in the drivers seat, Jace in shotgun and Izzy at the back. 

The only problem now was, he had no idea where the book store was. He did not want to go to a huge book store, that is branded. He wanted to go to a small one that was low-key and in need of some books. Alec knew that was going to be hard, especially in Manhattan. He googled some places in Brooklyn. He was sure they would have some low-key bookstores and they could check out their new school on their way back.

“Why is the car saying we’re going to Brooklyn?” Jace asked. 

“Because we are.” Alec said. 

“But Brooklyn is so far!” Jace whined. 

“Maybe you should have told that to our parents when they signed us up to go to, excuse me, ‘Brooklyn Institute,’ also, you chose to come with me, so you don’t get a say.” Alec sassed. 

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Izzy remarked. Alec hissed.

“Fine.” Izzy said, backing off. 

“Jace play music!” She said. 

Jace gave Izzy a smirk and played a song by Fall Out Boy. Alec loved that band. It was the best band of their time. Alec loved their music. 

“Someone finally developed good taste.” Alec said. 

“Shut up. I love them now.” Jace said. 

“They’re my favourite.” Alec said.

“I know.” Izzy said. 

They drove in silence, listening to Fall Out Boy. Izzy seems to have started to appreciate the music as well. She was humming along to it and asking to replay some of the songs. Jace and Alec gave each other a knowing look. Traffic was awful. Where did people have to go at 8am on a Sunday morning? It was outrageous. This traffic was worst than the one in LA. That’s saying something. Alec loved LA, but the traffic was horrific. 

They all finally arrived at the bookstore. The store was small, quite compact. Cozy. Alec liked it. It had a modern vintage style. If that made sense. There was a minimalist vibe, with vintage antiques around. Alec loved it already. 

Jace and Izzy were too busy complaining about the boxes of books to admire the bookstore. Alec was in complete shock. He adored it, already. 

Alec set his box on the counter. Jace and Izzy followed. The clerk, his name was Luke, was sitting at the counter, astonished by the amount of books. 

“You’re donating all of these?” He asked, his eyes wide. 

“Yes.” Alec said. 

“That’s very generous of you, Mr—“ Luke said. 

“Alec. Alec Lightwood.” He said. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lightwood.” Luke said. 

“The pleasure is all mine.” Alec said. “Also, just call me Alec. My father is Mr. Lightwood.” 

Luke smiled at him and Alec smiled back. Izzy and Jace were nowhere to be seen. They must be waiting in the car. 

Alec decided they could wait a little longer and he decided to browse. He picked up a book and read the summary. 

“I love that book.” Alec heard a smooth voice say. 

“Really?” Alec said, looking up at the person. His jaw was left wide open. The boy was beautiful. He wore a pair of red jeans, too tight for Alec’s own good, and a black cashmere sweater. His hair was swept up and had red tints on the tips. His eyes were a chocolate brown, framed in eyeliner and his face glimmered with glitter. He was something else. Possibly the most beautiful person Alec had ever had the pleasure of encountering. 

“See something you like?” He asked, smirking. 

“I’m uh —- I’m Alec.” Alec managed to croak out. 

“Magnus.” The boy said. He even had a beautiful name. Magnus. It was so unique, so lovely, so Magnus. The name was made for him. 

Alec extended his hand to shake Magnus’, but instead, Magnus grabbed Alec’s fingers and brought Alec’s hand up to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on them. Alec was flustered. At lost for words. 

“I should um— I should go.” Alec said. 

“See you around, pretty boy.” Magnus said. 

Alec dropped the book on the floor and almost ran out out the door. Though he ran out the first time he saw that boy, Alec hoped he would meet him again, soon. Alec’s cheeks were red from blushing. Was that boy, hitting on him? There was no way. No way on Earth. Alec ran into his car and was completely out of breath. Alec wasn’t even running after he left the shop. That boy, in one meeting managed to take his breath away. Alec needed to know more. Alec wanted to know more. 

“You okay, big brother?” Izzy asked. 

“Fine.” Alec said, voice hoarse. 

—  
Magnus was Luke’s adoptive son. He roamed around the shop often and was content to greet customers. 

Magnus saw the boy run out of the door. He was afraid he had come on too strong. The boy was practically running away from him. Magnus cussed at himself. This was why he could never keep a relationship. No one could provide the same love he had given them. 

Magnus saw something in that boy. He was shy, polite, kind. He noticed all of the books he had donated to Luke. He was different. There was no other way to explain it. He wanted to see him again. Needed to see him again. Needed to get close to him, and he knew exactly how.


	2. Chapter  2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New school. New friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, it's me again! i just wanted to thank you all for the lovely comments and kudos! i replied to every comment and know i appreciate them immensely. i have them to keep me warm at night now. 
> 
> also, i just wanted to add a disclaimer, there is mention of biphobia in this chapter. just a little bit. also, in the tags there is mention that raphael is asexual, it is mentioned in this chapter! :)) 
> 
> also, all grammar mistakes and such are made by me only! please forgive me for them. 
> 
> enjoy!

“So, Alec why are you so out of breath?” Izzy asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

 

“I’m not.” Alec argued, sounding a little more defensive than he should. 

 

“Okay.” Isabelle said, backing off. Alec knew she was determined to find out what happened. She would fish out of him one way or not, sooner or later. Alec certainly hoped it was later. 

 

Alec and his siblings spent the better part of the day scouting furniture for their rooms. More like they spent the better part of the day searching furniture for Isabelle’s room. Jace and Alec had a general idea of what they wanted and bought their material rapidly. They saw a bed they liked that fit their mattress, and they got their pillows, bedsheets, desks, hangers and rugs. Alec and Jace were now more than ready to get home. 

 

Isabelle had a very thought out and specific plan for her room. The things she wanted were literally impossible to find in any store. Alec and Jace followed behind her like puppies, looking for her things. She had finally found her furniture and was content with what she had bought. Alec, Jace and Izzy had to wait until Tuesday until their beds and desks arrived. So, until then, they were on the mattresses. Both, Jace and Alec had no issue with that. Naturally, Isabelle was complaining about having to sleep on a mattress without a bed frame. But, if she really thought about it, you were always sleeping on a mattress. Alec and Jace let her ramble, tuning out whatever she said. 

 

Alec, Jace and Izzy had finished all of their shopping and errands, then were on their way home. Alec was absolutely famished. Isabelle had not let them stop for lunch because she was ‘in the zone’ of her shopping — whatever that meant. Alec decided that he would let his little sister continue shopping. Jace, on the other hand was not having it, when they were at Ikea, he bought a couple things to eat. He was kind enough to let Alec have one of his ice cream cones.Now, Isabelle was complaining because she was hungry. She didn’t seem to mind when her brothers were standing hungry. Alec rolled his eyes. He loved his sister, but sometimes she drove him a little crazy. 

 

Alec, Jace and Isabelle arrived home to see Max at the dinner table, eating, all alone. They decided to join him, they all were also starving. They were also confused why he was sitting alone. They thought their parents were home with Max all day. They left their baby alone in a new house on the first day! Alec was holding in his rage for that. 

 

“Hey, buddy, what’d you do all day?” Jace asked, ruffling Max’s hair. 

 

“Mom and Dad went to run some errands, and you all weren’t home, so I stayed at home and played some video games.” Max shrugged. 

 

“Where’d you get this food?” Isabelle asked, pointing to the food on his plate. She knew their mother had not cooked it. When their mother cooked, she made sure everyone ate together at the dinner table. Family dinners. It was really the only time the whole Lightwood family sat together and ate. Yesterday was ‘family dinner,’ that means they won’t have another family dinner for a while. By a while, Alec meant like 6 months. 

 

“Our neighbours sent it over.” Max said. 

 

“You met our neighbours?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yeah, they were nice. It was awkward because I was the only one home, but they were kind.” Max said. 

 

“Oh Max, we’re so sorry.” Isabelle said. 

 

“It’s okay. You all left before Mom and Dad, you didn’t know they were gonna leave.” Max shrugged. 

 

God, Alec loved this kid. He was always so thoughtful and kind. He never put the blame on anyone, he lived in his own bubble. He was also the cutest kid Alec had ever seen. 

 

“Do you guys want some?” Max asked. 

 

“Yes please.” They said in unison. Max laughed. 

 

“It’s in the fridge. You all must be tired, I’ll do it.” Max said. 

 

“No, Max. It’s okay, I’ll do it.” Izzy said, getting up and patting Max’s shoulder. 

 

Jace and Alec looked at each other and gulped. They loved their sister, but she was an absolute nightmare in the kitchen. She always managed to set something on fire, the angel only knows how. Alec had decided it’s best of she stays away from the kitchen. She argues that her cooking is fine and she should be allowed in the kitchen. Their entire family begs to differ. 

 

“No!” Jace and Alec yelled in unison. Izzy cocked at eyebrow at them. 

 

“I’ll do it.” Jace said. Alec trusted Jace in the kitchen. He knew his way around the kitchen. He also was not notorious for setting the kitchen on fire whenever he got up to cook something. Thus, leading to Jace being trusted in the kitchen. Jace got up and placed the dish of food in the microwaves. He put in the timer and turned it on, leaning on the counter, waiting for the dish to be finished heating up. 

 

“Do you know the names of our neighbours?” Alec asked. 

 

“I’m pretty sure their surname is Santiago.” Max said.

 

—

 

You could say Magnus had everything going for him, and nothing going for him. He had caught the love of his life cheating on him a couple months ago, and today he had met the most precious boy. 

 

Now, Magnus was conflicted. His life had been enamoured when he met Camille. He fell in deep. That was his problem. When he fell, he fell deep and fast. There were not many people who could return the intense feelings Magnus had. Hell, in any relationship Magnus had been in, no one had been able to return Magnus’ feelings. Magnus had given up on relationships altogether. 

 

Camille and Magnus had been together since freshman year. They both had slowly made their way to the top of the food chain and were the power couple of the school. That was, when they were together. 

 

Now that Magnus thinks about it, he seemed to be more in love with the idea of Camille and not Camille herself. She was a shallow, low, and petty bitch. She never let anyone get too close to her. She was afraid they’d figure out the real witch she is. Magnus had never paid any mind to what Camille said and what people thought of her. He ignored his friends. They warned him, constantly that she was toxic and awful for him. He dismissed them and always defended her. Now he sees how fallacious and blind he was. 

 

Speaking of his friends, they were coming over. His best friend in the entire world was Catarina Loss. She was far too good for this world. But, this world was in desperate need of more people like her. She is kind and forgiving. Unlike his friends, Raphael and Ragnor, whom are insufferable. But, he adored them, though he would never tell them. Unless he was hammered. Then, was his adoptive sister, Clary. Luke had raised them both, alone, after his wife, Jocelyn had died, who was Clary’s mother. But, Jocelyn had started dating Luke after Clary was born. Clary’s real father had ran away. He abandoned her. Luke has been their legal guardian since forever. With Clary, came Simon. Who is also Raphael’s boyfriend. Simon and Clary had been best friends since nursery. Simon was pleasant and quite good company. Magnus quite enjoyed spending time with him, but to tease him, Magnus never took his name correctly. Simon had never minded it, but Clary took great offence to it. 

 

Clary and Magnus were siblings. They never acted as if they were anything else. Clary loved Magnus and Magnus loved Clary. Everyone questioned their family, but in the end, those people did not matter and what mattered was that Magnus had a family. Magnus was thrown around the foster system. He had to suffer through great pain and loss when he was in the system. No family wanted him. They thought he was too flamboyant. Magnus, took that as a compliment. Whenever he would stay with a family, as soon as he earned their trust and they earned his trust, Magnus told them he was bisexual. They threw him out the second they learned that about him. Magnus had to face biphobia since he learned about his sexuality. Luke and Clary were more than accepting of his sexuality. Magnus was eternally grateful for that. He was so glad he had found Clary and Luke. They were his family. Sure, they were dysfunctional and not your ‘normal’ family, but they were one nonetheless. 

 

Magnus was sitting on his bed, staring at the copy of ‘The Great Gatsby,’ thinking about the boy he had encountered that day. _Alec._ He was so beautiful. All Magnus could picture were his red cheeks and gorgeous hazel eyes. Magnus was also confused, a book nerd like Alec had never read The Great Gatsby? It was Magnus’ favourite book. He loved the subtle love between some of the characters. Okay, the subtle love that Nick carried for Gatsby. But anyway, he had read the book countless times and he had watched the movie more times than your normal person. You could say he was a fan. 

 

“Magnus?” Catarina asked, standing at his door. Magnus snapped out of his thoughts about Alec and paid attention to his friends standing at the door. 

 

“Clary let us in.” Catarina said, walking in, hugging Magnus. 

 

“Remind me to thank Biscuit.” Magnus said. 

 

“What were you doing that was so important, you didn’t open the door?” Ragnor huffed. 

 

“Plotting your murder.” Magnus laughed. 

 

“Can I get in on that?” Raphael asked, pointing a finger up in the air. 

 

“No.” Magnus answered. 

 

“I hate you, Bane.” Raphael said. 

 

“Love you too sweetie.” Magnus said, blowing a kiss to Raphael. 

 

They all climbed onto Magnus’ bed and Catarina saw his book on the nightstand. She picked it up and asked Magnus, “Again?” 

 

“Not for me, dear.” Magnus said, grazing the book. 

 

“For who?” Ragnor asked. 

 

“I would tell you, but Raphael is too busy peeking out my door to see if his boyfriend is here to pay attention.” Magnus snapped. 

 

Raphael’s head jerked back to face Magnus the second he heard his name. Raphael flipped Magnus off and Magnus just laughed. 

 

“Sheldon will be arriving soon. Biscuit is waiting for him. You’re welcome to join her.” Magnus encouraged. 

 

“Fuck you, Bane.” Raphael said. Magnus had heard those words come out of Raphael’s mouth so many times, it was as if his body had an automatic response when he said it. 

 

“You and I both know we both have no desire to do that.” Magnus responded, smirk on his face. Raphael had not even slept with his own boyfriend. He had literally no desire to. He called himself an asexual. Simon respected that and didn’t care about it. He loved him, regardless. Magnus and his friends also respected it. 

 

Raphael did not have anything against Clary, but he never really got along with her. In fact, Raphael and Clary may have even never spoken a word to each other. Maybe to ask where Simon was. But, the two never really had a real conversation. For some people who saw each other for hours in a day, they were about as much of strangers as two people who bump into each other by accident in Times Square, on New Years Eve. 

 

“Who’s the book for?” Catarina asked, directing his attention to this more pressing subject. 

 

“I saw a boy.” Magnus started. 

 

“For hell’s sake!” Ragnor whined, throwing his hands up in the air. 

 

“What?” Magnus asked. 

 

“You thought he was beautiful, he’s probably straight, ran out on you and now you’re gonna spend all of your time obsessing over him, knowing he’ll never love you back.” Ragnor said. 

 

“What’s new?” He asked. 

 

“This time’s different. He came by to donate some books to Luke’s bookstore. He was browsing and he picked up The Great Gatsby, I saw the book and I went over to him. He was reading the summary and I started talking to him about the book, hen when he saw me, he was in complete shock. I mean, I am fabulous, who doesn’t love me?” Magnus said. 

 

Raphael, Ragnor and Catarina’s hands shot up in the air. “I hate you all.” Magnus chuckled. 

 

“Then, instead of talking about the book, I started flirting with him and he ran away.” Magnus said. He realized how sad it sounded after he had said it.

 

“So, what Ragnor said?” Raphael asked. 

 

“Shut up. No, I think he liked what he saw. He was nervous.” Magnus said.

 

“You are kinda scary. I mean you are literally the male version of Bloody Mary.” Ragnor said. 

 

“Aw, is wittle Ragnor scared of Magnus?” Magnus cooed, teasing Ragnor, poking him on his upper arm with his pointer finger multiple times.

 

“Shut up.” Ragnor said. 

 

“Make me.” Magnus challenged. 

 

“We both know this is when you kiss someone and we are not kissing.” Ragnor said. 

 

“Your loss.” Magnus said. 

 

“I got a new neighbour.” Raphael said, changing the topic. 

 

“Have you met them?” Cat asked. 

 

“No, I mean, I saw them move last night. They were so loud.” Raphael grunted. 

 

“Really?” Magnus asked, cocking an eyebrow and smirking. 

 

“By the angel, Bane. Get your mind out of the gutter.” Raphael said. 

 

“Do they have any people our age?” Cat asked. 

 

“They have 4 kids, three of them look around our age and one of them is much younger.” Raphael explained. 

 

“Are they going to out school?” Magnus asked. 

 

“How am I supposed to know? I don’t even know their names.” Raphael snapped. 

 

“I guess they don’t. You’re the only insane one that drives an hour everyday to come to the Brooklyn Institute.” Cat said. 

 

“Only because you’re my only friends and I hate socializing.” Raphael said. “Except you, Bane and Fell. Huh, guess I only like Cat.” He continued. 

 

“Thanks boo.” Cat said. 

 

“You love us.” Magnus and Ragnor remarked. 

 

“Hey guys!” Clary said, walking into Magnus’ room, Simon by her side. Without hesitation, Raphael went up to his boyfriend and gave him a hug. Simon returned the hug with full force. 

 

“Wanna go downstairs? More room.” Clary suggested. The other three got off the bed as their answer to Clary. They all walked downstairs and gathered on the floor around the coffee table. They never really sat on the sofas. They could all sit together on the floor. So they all settled for that. Although, there were arguments on who’s going to sit where. Everyone wanted the spot on the floor with the backrest. 

 

“Wanna watch a movie?” Clary asked, picking up the remote. Cat, Ragnor and Magnus nodded in agreement. Raphael and Simon were off doing their own thing in the corner. Though Raphael was insufferable, he became a little more tolerable when he was with Simon. Simon made Raphael smile, and that was all Magnus needed. His friend to be happy. He was glad Raphael had found Simon. He was ecstatic for him when he found out they were dating. He played it cool though, Raphael can never know that Magnus actually likes him. 

 

—

 

“Izzy, I have to get my stuff.” Alec whined. Alec was trying to have possession of his clothes again, but Isabelle was blocking him from going through. She was standing in front of the door, determined not to move. This was definitely a hostage situation. 

 

“No!” Izzy said. 

 

“Why?” Alec asked, throwing his hands up in the air. 

 

“I won’t let you in, unless you tell me why you were as red as blood and completely out of breath when you left the book store?” Izzy asked. 

 

“What do you mean?” Alec asked, trying to act as if nothing had happened. 

 

“You know what I mean, don’t play dumb.” Izzy said. 

 

“Nothing, I was running.” Alec shrugged. 

 

“First of all, you weren’t running when you sat into the car. Also, maybe you were running and you stopped, why were you running in the first place?” Izzy asked, walking up closer to him. Though she was small in size, she was feisty. Isabelle Lightwood was not one to back down from a fight. Or to lose one. Isabelle always got what she wanted. Alec had always admired that about her. She was very determined and focused on her goals, Alec wished he could be as courageous as she was, as stupid as it sounded. 

 

“I told you, it was nothing.” Alec said. She was definitely onto him. Alec was getting more and more nervous as the seconds passed by.

 

“Okay, then you won’t get your clothes.” Isabelle said. 

 

“Come on, Iz!” Alec pleaded. 

 

“Only if you tell me what happened.” Isabelle said, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms across her chest. 

 

“Fine.” Alec said. Isabelle gave Alec a victorious grin and opened the door, leading him inside. Alec walked in and headed straight to the closet. 

 

“Oh look, you’re home!” Isabelle teased when he walked into the closet. 

 

“Ha ha. So funny I forgot to laugh, Iz.” Alec said, grabbing his clothes and rolling his eyes. 

 

“So, what happened?” Isabelle asked. 

 

Alec took a deep breath. When he replayed what happened in his head, he looked like a fool. There were an endless amount of other options he could have taken, but instead, he took the easiest one, and also the stupidest, and ran. 

 

“I was so dumb.” Alec breathed out. Isabelle walked up to him and clasped his shoulder. 

 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Isabelle said. 

 

“Izzy! Seriously!” Alec said, turning to face her. 

 

“Well, I can’t take you seriously if you don’t tell me what actually happened.” Izzy said. She had a point. Well, that was the point. 

 

“After you guys left, I walked around and browsed the library.” Alec started, “Then I saw the most beautiful boy. Izzy, I’m telling you, he was like an angel on Earth. His eyes were this dark chocolate brown, but unlike dark chocolate, his eyes were sweet. They were lined with the most sharp eyeliner. I mean, you have to take tips from him. His smile was one that melted me. I literally felt weak in my knees when he smiled at me. I picked up the book and he said he loved the book. In that moment I wanted to know what it felt like to be loved by him. I stared at him with my jaw wide open. He even noticed it. It was so embarrassing. Instead of making fun of me, he started to flirt with me? I think. Then, when he flirted, I was so stupid and I told him my name, instead of flirting back. He told me his name. It was the most perfect name. It suited him so well. His name was Magnus. It was so unique, so perfect, so him! Then, when I extended my hand, the intention to shake his hand, he took my hand and kissed it. In that moment I wanted to die. My skin still feels tingly where his lips were. Then, I was literally the biggest. Idiot. Ever. I ran away! Like instead of getting to know him more, I ran away! I even dropped the book I was holding! I’m so dumb.” Alec finished rambling. He was so lost in his rambling that he lost his train of his thought and just imagined Magnus’ smile. It was so beautiful, so pure.   


“Alec, you are, in fact, the biggest idiot this world has ever seen.” Izzy said. 

 

“I know!” Alec said, digging his hands into his hair. 

 

“It’ll be okay, big brother. Maybe he goes to our school. He’s from Brooklyn right?” She asked. 

 

“Well I think. I mean, he could be like us, crazy people from Manhattan.” Alec said. 

 

“Alec, if anything, if you wanna know him more, you can visit the shop.” Izzy said, rubbing his shoulder. 

 

“I was left breathless by him. That’s never happened before!” Alec exclaimed. 

 

“I know, I know. You’ll be okay. You’ll see him again.” Isabelle said. She had no idea this was the turn the story was going to take. She imagined he made out with him and that was it. But, this was far more serious. Her brother had feelings. For the first time, he’d been interested in someone. It was now Izzy’s mission to find her brother his mystery man. _Magnus._

 

She shushed Alec, calmed him down. “Now, we have work to do.” Izzy said. 

 

“What?” Alec asked. 

 

“Your clothes, silly!” She said. 

 

“Right.” Alec said. He got up and went into the closet. He grabbed the stacks of his shirts and brought them over to his room. His pants were next. Izzy kept teasing him about his name fashion sense and how he should wear more colour. He was content in his black jeans and black shirt, thank you very much.

 

Alec’s wardrobe probably had the quantity of one eighth of Izzy’s clothes. Alec was not upset about it. He did not care for clothes. So, it did not take him a million years to bring all of his clothes to his room and set them all up in his closet. Once he was done, he decided to get Max to go to sleep. He had school the next day. Their parents were taking Max to some private school interview. Alec, Izzy and Jace were, thank the angel, sent to a public high school. They hated being treated like snobs and being around snobs. They were casual people.

 

Alec ran downstairs to see his parents weren’t home yet. Alec shrugged it off. They were adults. He was their kid, not their parent. Although, he was the ‘responsible adult’ in every situation. His parents always left Izzy, Jace and Max to Alec’s responsibility. Alec had spent most of his childhood taking care of his siblings. He was not angry about it. He loved his siblings. But, he would for once like to be taken care of, not the one taking care of people. 

 

Alec found Max in front of the big flatscreen TV in their living room. His eyes were glued to the TV, his butt glued to the chair, and his palm attached to the controller. He was not blinking. Alec was starting to be concerned for him. He had to make sure he was okay. Alec walked in front of Max, looking down on him and placing his hands on his hips. Very parent like. 

 

“Alec, move!” Max complained. 

 

“Nope, it’s bed time.” Alec said. 

 

“5 more minutes!” Max said. 

 

“You have school tomorrow!” Alec argued. 

 

“Please!” Max begged. 

 

“Nope. Get up.” Alec said. 

 

“No.” Max said. 

 

“Fine.” Alec said and walked over to unplug the game. Max would lose all of his progress if Alec did that. 

 

“Fine! Fine! I’ll go to sleep.” Max said, pulling his headphones down so they were now circling his neck. 

 

“Good.” Alec smiled. Max groaned and rolled his eyes as he put all of his wires and games away.

 

Alec waited patiently against the wall. When Max was done placing his things in the correct places. He ran upstairs into his room. Alec smiled. He followed behind Max and opened the door to his room. He saw the red in Max’s eyes. He was exhausted. Alec walked into Max’s room 10 minutes after Max went upstairs. Max was already in bed and snoring his quiet little snores. Alec smiled and kissed his forehead. 

 

 

 

“Goodnight, Maxie.” He said. Alec quickly walked back downstairs. He was in the mood for a good book. Except, he had read all of these books, countless times. He loved them, he did, but he needed something new, something refreshing. Alec then remembered the book he was holding when Magnus approached him. He had wanted buy it. When Magnus said he loved it, he had the urge to buy it even more. But, like an idiot, he ran and dropped the book. He told himself he would go to the store tomorrow after school and buy the book. For now, he settled for a little writing before bed. Magnus had given him a stroke of inspiration. He was not going to let that go to waste. 

 

That night, Alec wrote. He wrote and wrote. His hand kept moving. It was as if it had a brain of it’s own. Alec’s hand started cramping, but he kept writing. He had to get these ideas down. They kept flowing in like water. As he poured his ideas out on paper, more ideas kept coming to him and it was as if they were endless. As soon as Alec was finished with his piece, he exhaled a breath he did not know he was holding. That was exhilarating. Alec had never written an entire piece in a day itself, let alone one sitting. Who knew meeting, quite possibly the most beautiful person on this Earth could be Alec’s muse?

 

—

 

Alec had trouble sleeping. He knew this because he was so warped up in the entire ‘going to school.’ He hated starting new. But, mostly he was anxious to see Magnus again. He hoped he went to his new school. Alec knew Izzy and Jace would be more than fine at their new school, he was not one for attention. He liked hiding in the shadows. Not necessarily the shadows of his siblings, but if that need be, he was okay with it.

 

Alec then thought of the things that Jace had said to him. About not hiding anymore. He knew he could start completely new, with a clean slate. Truth is, Alec was more than ready to come out. He was proud of who he was and nothing was going to change that. He was sure that there were at least a couple other gay people in his school. He was not afraid of what people would do to him, he was afraid of what his parents would do to him. They were why Alec had held back on coming out for so long. Izzy and Jace knew because he had blurted it out to them one day. Not his finest moment. Nonetheless, they supported him endlessly and the still do. Izzy, was especially excited. She wanted to talk about boys with him. But, Alec was not the ‘stereotypical gay,’ as you would say. No one could guess, except for how much of a disaster he is around boys. But, he likes his black wardrobe and is not really into makeup, fashion or anything like that. He likes to keep to himself. 

 

Alec, did end up sleeping. After he got rid of all his thoughts. Two hours of sleep is enough for his first day at a new school, in the middle of the year, right? Right. Alec could do this. Three deep breaths and a pep talk should get him going. He was always awake before his siblings because he had to wake them up. Alarms were tragic when it came to Jace and Izzy. They slept as if they were dead people. 

 

Alec hopped into the shower. Warm water hitting his back, just the consistency he wanted it at. His head ducked and the water pouring in front of him. It calmed him down. He finished his shower and stepped out. He slid on his boxers and struggled to tug on his pair of jeans. He wore a single black t-shirt and slipped on socks. He was ready to go. He grabbed his school bag that was left untouched from before. He slung it over his shoulder and grabbed his phone. Next, was the difficult part. Waking up Jace and Izzy. Max seemed to already be gone with their parents. Alec walked into Isabelle’s room, she was already up, her bed was empty. He went further into her room and she was throwing clothes out of her closet. A couple of her dresses landed on Alec. 

 

“You okay, Iz?” Alec asked, wiping the clothes off his face. 

 

“I have nothing to wear!” She exclaimed. 

 

“Really?” Alec asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

 

“Yes!” She whined, falling to the floor and throwing more of her clothes in the air. 

 

“Izzy, you look great in anything.” Alec said. “I have to go wake Jace up.” Alec walked up to her and kissed her forehead. She gave him a faint smile and went right back to finding an outfit for the day. Alec smiled and shook his head as he walked out of her door. 

 

Alec strolled into Jace’s room. He was also missing from his bed. His covers were all bunched up. He was out of bed. Alec investigated more. He was neither in his closet or his washroom. Where did Jace go? Alec decided to go downstairs, in hopes he was there. Jace was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a protein shake and scrolling through his phone. 

 

“Jace?” Alec asked, in disbelief that his brother was awake.

 

“Finally! Izzy and I have been awake forever.” Jace said. Jace was in his signature Gucci leather jacket, a black shirt from POLO and his favourite jeans from Levi’s. His everyday look, for his first day of school. Alec had not expected anything else. 

 

“Really?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yeah. We couldn’t sleep.” He said. “So we chilled together watching a couple movies and eating some food.” Jace explained further. 

 

“Thanks for the invite.” Alec groaned, sitting next to him. Jace slid his protein shake to Alec. Alec took a sip from it. 

 

“Izzy and I thought you were sleeping, you were exhausted yesterday.” Jace said. 

 

“I had a lot on my mind, couldn’t sleep.” Alec said. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and gagged. 

 

“Ew! How the hell do you drink this! It’s nauseating.” Alec said. 

 

“It’s not!” Jace defended. Alec gave him a knowing look. 

 

“Fine, they are gross, but it’s for the abs.” Jace said. 

 

“You gonna join basketball?” Alec asked. 

 

“I hope I can.” Jace said. “You?” He asked, taking a sip of his drink. He and Alec played basketball together, but Alec had never joined the team. He was too afraid. He never knew if he was going to make the team, or he didn’t know if he could handle the immense pressure of being on the team during games. Alec had also never enjoyed the spotlight. As a jock, you are forced into the spotlight, and Alec hated that. Alec feared that if he ever came out as a gay player, the team would be afraid of him, they would be uncomfortable around him, hate him. Alec could not withstand that. It would break him. He saw Jace with his team, he coveted that, as well, he was just petrified of what would happen if they found out he was gay. 

 

 

 

On the contrary, Jace loved being on the team. He loved his teammates, the praise, the attention, the girls, the game, the pressure. Everything about it. He would love it a tonne more if he had his brother playing alongside him. He adored playing with Alec, outside and always encouraged him to join the team, Alec just never did. Jace knew why, he respected why. He just really wished he could win along with his brother. 

 

“I don’t know.” Alec shrugged. 

 

“I hope you do.” Jace said, clapping Alec’s shoulder and walking to place his glass back in the sink. 

 

At this point, Izzy strolled downstairs. Her heels clicking as loud as ever. Alec heard them from a mile away. She was looking absolutely beautiful, as usual. She was wearing a red jacket she got from Givenchy, a pair of tight black jeans, and a white flowy shirt. Her heels were Jimmy Choo. Completely black, pointy at the front and a pencil heel. 

 

“You ready to go, sis?” Jace asked. 

 

“I was born ready.” Izzy said. 

 

“Alec?” Jace asked, facing him. 

 

“As I’ll ever be.” Alec said, taking a deep breath. 

 

“I’m driving!” Jace called, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. Izzy grabbed her backpack from Louis Vuitton and re-did her red lipstick. Alec rolled his eyes at her. 

 

“What?” She glared. 

 

“Nothing.” Alec chuckled, “Let’s go.” 

 

Alec walked in front and Izzy behind him. Jace was already waiting at the elevator. The keys dangling and making a loud sound. There was also someone else standing with them. A latino boy, his eyes were brown, light brown, his skin was too pale to be humane and he looked dead tired. Alec assumed he was his neighbour that Max had told them about. 

 

“Hey, are you our new neighbour?” Izzy asked, she beat Alec to it. 

 

“You guys move in a couple days ago?” He asked. Izzy nodded. “Yeah, I’m Raphael.” He said. 

 

“I’m Izzy Lightwood, that’s my brother, Alec.” She said pointing to Alec and then she pointed to Jace saying, “That’s my other brother, Jace.” 

 

“You don’t look related.” Raphael noticed. Pointing at the three of them.

 

Izzy was happy to oblige to the question he was wondering, but did not directly ask, “Jace is adopted.” 

 

“Ah. No schools in Manhattan require you up this early.” Raphael noticed. 

 

“We aren’t going to school in Manhattan. We’re going to the Brooklyn Institute.” Izzy said. 

 

“Oh, more crazy people.” Raphael noted. 

 

 

“What?” Isabelle asked, sounding defensive. 

 

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. My friends call me crazy for going to school in Brooklyn when I live in Manhattan. They find it preposterous.” Raphael clarified. 

 

“Oh.” Izzy said. The elevator had reached up to their floor and the four of them piled into it. 

 

“We can drop you to school, if you want.” Izzy offered, as they all got off at the garage. 

 

“It’s alright, I have a car.” Raphael said, dangling his car keys in front of his face so Izzy could see them. 

 

“Nice meeting you.” Isabelle said. 

 

“You too.” Raphael said. 

 

Isabelle had always been a lot more welcoming out of the tree of them. She knew how to start conversations and she was liked even by the rudest and most guarded people. She had that affect on people. She called it, ‘The Izzy Lightwood Effect.’ 

 

Jace dropped into the driver’s seat, Alec in shotgun and Izzy at the back. Alec and Jace always sat at the front. Izzy was used to it by now. She figured wasting her time on arguing with her brothers every time was not worth it. The three of them drove to school. Jace put in his GPS, not yet knowing the exact way to their school yet. 

 

Almost an hour and a half later, they arrived at school. Traffic sucked. It was absolutely awful. Alec wanted to exit the car and yell at all of the stupid drivers causing a mess on the roads. 

 

“Finally.” Alec grumbled. He was so over sitting in the car.

 

“This is it.” Jace said. 

 

“Let’s go.” Izzy said, walking in between her brothers and hooked her arms through theirs. They walked in together, like a family. Alec felt less nauseous, having his siblings beside him. They were his rock. They kept him sane and drove him insane too. He loved them. With them with him he felt safe. 

 

Alec, Jace and Izzy walked into the school, and their eyes were plastered open. There were so many kids! Alec had never seen this many people before. He was completely shocked. He thought the road were bad, getting to class in this would be a nightmare. 

 

The three Lightwood siblings made their way into the front office. 

 

“Hi, we’re the Lightwoods. We’re new here.” Izzy said to the front secretary. 

 

“Oh, the Lightwoods! I’ve been expecting you. Here are your schedules and I have a student here to help you get around.” The secretary chirped. “This is Maia Roberts.” The secretary said, introducing the girl in front of them. She had curly dark hair, her skin was the colour of Isabelle’s eyes. She looked fierce. 

 

“Don’t get lost!” She called, walking away. Jace, Izzy and Alec had to run to catch up to her. She was quite easy to find in a crowd. Her purple jacket spoke for itself. 

 

“So, that’s the science wing,” she said pointing to the left. “that’s the English wing,” she said, pointing to the right. 

 

“Actually, screw this.” Maia said. Alec and his siblings looked confused. 

 

“Here’s a map I drew. Hope you’ll find you way around, I’m gonna be late.” She said, running off. 

 

The map clearly stated everything in the school. It was quite easy to follow. Too bad she left before Alec could thank her. 

 

Alec, Izzy and Jace looked at their schedules. Alec had Biology first, with Mr. Wayland. 

 

“See you guys at lunch?” Alec asked. Izzy and Jace nodded. Alec bumped fists with Jace and kissed Izzy’s forehead before leaving. 

 

“Good luck!” He called over his shoulder. He walked into the science wing, where Maia had directed. Thank the angel, it was nearby. Alec walked over and walked into the classroom. Almost the entire class was filled. When Alec walked in, all eyes were on him. No one said a word, everyone just stared at him. Alec carefully walked over to the teacher, praying he didn’t trip over anything. 

 

“I’m Alec Lightwood.” Alec said, handing Mr. Wayland his admission slip. He handed Alec a textbook and he gave Alec a clipped nod. Alec went to the one seat that was empty. 

 

The rest of the class resumed their talking. Class began when the bell rang and there was still two minutes. Alec slipped his backpack off his shoulder and threw it on the ground. 

 

“I’m Simon Lewis!” The boy beside him exclaimed. He smiled bright. Alec could see how genuine he was. 

 

“Alec.” Alec nodded, not able to match that level of enthusiasm. 

 

“I guess you’re my new lab partner.” Simon sighed. 

 

“You’re not happy about it?” Alec asked, eyebrow raised. 

 

“No, no. I just don’t know you.” Simon said. 

 

“That can change.” Alec said, smiling. 

 

“Good.” Simon smiled. “Also, if you have no one to sit with at lunch, you can sit with my friends and I. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you sitting with us. I mean they’re very welcoming. Well some of them. My best friend will love you, I’m sure. Also, if you have someone to sit with, I’m sorry. You don’t have to sit with us. If you want to, you can. 

 

“Simon?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yeah?” Simon replied. 

 

“Shut up.” He said. 

 

“Sorry, people tell me I talk a lot.” Simon said. 

 

“I can see why. I’m obligated to agree with them.” Alec laughed. 

 

Simon chuckled and the bell rang. Mr. Wayland clapped his hands. 

 

“Alright, enough horsing around!” He called, shutting the class up. 

 

“Simon?” Alec whispered. 

 

“Hmm?” He replied. 

 

“I’d love to sit with you and your friends at lunch.” Alec whispered. 

 

Simon smiled. Alec knew he was going to get along great with Simon. Maybe life here would not be as dreadful as Alec thought it would be. 

 

Alec sat through his Biology lesson. He took notes when the time came, and answered questions when Mr. Wayland asked them. Science was not his forte, but he was an all round great student. In LA they would call him ‘model student’ and ‘golden boy.’ Alec hated those names. They felt so… _wrong._

 

Alec had English next. His first semester was laid out pretty simple. He had Biology, English, Lunch, Law, Chemistry. He was content with his layout. The whole school had lunch together, which Alec could not fathom how they managed. There was an absurd amount of students. Alas, it was not his place to question. Alec walked into his English, that he loved was near his Biology class. He was not looking forward to finding his locker later on. He had no idea where it was and was not planning on looking for it. He liked his backpack. Carrying it everywhere was simple. But, he knew that he would have too many materials at one point to carry in his backpack at once. 

 

Alec paid close attention in his English class. He loved this class. It was his favourite class. For obvious reasons. He loved reading and writing. He jumped right onto the curriculum. It was only October, so they were not far in the reading or the lessons. Alec knew he’d have no trouble catching up. He was great at this kind of stuff. He watched his teacher teach carefully and noticed all of the the points the author was making. He also had pointed some out to his teacher. They were reading ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ Alec loved this book. He had read it time and time again. He had recently watched the movie that came out, with Michael B Jordan. He was quite impressed with it. Although, he preferred the book rather than the movie. That was the case in all of the movie-book adaptations he watched. Some movies he liked more than others, but this one was actually very impressive. 

 

Once English was over, he was on the hunt for his locker. He had no idea where it was. The locker number was 1111. On the bottom floor, he noticed all of the lockers ended at 400. If that was the case with all of them. That meant, Alec was on the top floor. He groaned. He was not at all looking forward to going all the way upstairs to his locker then coming all the way downstairs for class every morning. 

 

Alec walked upstairs. He went through 2 flights of long stairs. He was exhausted at the end of it. Why didn’t they have elevators? The students’ lives would have been a million times easier. 

 

Alec had finally found his locker and his followed through on his combination. He opened the locker to see it was empty. What else had he expected? Alec dumped his books from his first two classes in the shelves and slammed the locker door shut. 

 

Alec had his wallet on him, he usually brought lunch from home, but today he had forgotten. Hewalked downstairs, into the cafeteria. He found Izzy and Jace standing at the front. 

 

“Hey!” Alec hugged Izzy when he saw her. 

 

“How was your day?” Alec asked to her and Jace. 

 

“Eh.” Jace answered. 

 

“Whatever.” Izzy answered. 

 

“How was yours?” Jace and Izzy asked in unison. 

 

“Same. It was eh. But, someone invited me to eat with them.” Alec said, sounding hopeful. 

 

“You’re leaving us?” Isabelle whined. 

 

“Not cool, dude.” Jace said, looking at Alec with a very stern look. 

 

Alec suddenly felt as if his siblings were joking. They would always be happy when he found someone to sit with. Especially on the first day. 

 

“We’re kidding!” They said, after a while, when Alec did not say anything. Alec exhaled. 

 

“I’m proud.” Isabelle said. 

 

“Go have fun with your new friends!” Jace encouraged. 

 

“Thanks!” Alec said, and ventured off to find Simon. Alec watched our for his siblings to see they had scattered around the lunch room, with their own friends. Alec was glad his siblings were so well off. Less to worry about. Alec stood in the middle of the cafeteria, when he heard a familiar voice call his name. 

 

“Alec!” Simon called. Alec found where the voice was coming from and smiled at him, nodding, he went off. 

 

Once Alec reached Simon’s table, Simon patted the seat next to him, offering Alec to sit there. 

“Hey guys! This is Alec Lightwood.” Simon introduced. 

 

Everyone looked up at Alec. Alec looked at everyone, then the person at the corner caught his eyes. He saw a sparkle. One he had seen before. The boy turned around and looked at Alec straight in the eyes. 

 

“Alec!” Magnus chirped.

 

“Magnus.” Alec managed to croak out. 

 

“You two know each other?” Simon asked. 

 

“Yeah, I saw him at Luke’s bookstore yesterday.” Magnus explained, his elbows on the table. 

 

“He’s ‘pretty boy?’” Ragnor exclaimed. Alec blushed ferociously. Magnus had talked about him, to his friends? 

 

“Excuse him,” a soft voice said, “I’m Catarina, that’s Ragnor. You know Magnus.” Catarina introduced everyone sitting on their side of the table. 

 

“Oh right!” Simon said. “That’s Raphael.” He said, pointing to the person sitting next to him. Their fingers laced together. Alec then assumed he and Raphael were dating. Huh, he hadn’t seen that coming. This was interesting. 

 

“Lightwood?” Raphael asked, leaning his head back so he could see Alec. When he confirmed it was Alec, he turned back and said, “That’s my new neighbour.” 

 

“What?” Simon said, “How do all of you know Alec? I seem to be the last person to know.” Simon complained. 

 

“You and I both, Si.” A female voice said. Alec did not see her from behind Raphael. She was… small. Alec peered forward to see she had eccentric red hair. 

 

“Right, that’s my best friend, Clary.” Simon said, pointing to her. Alec nodded. 

 

Alec sat in silence with all of them. They all talked about their business and Alec listened. He did not feel one bit out of place. He laughed along with them. He was sure they’d get along. Alec wanted to get along with one of them more than others. Magnus. 

 

When the bell rang, Alec had not eaten. His stomach was empty and he was completely drained. All he wanted to do was sit at home and read a book or take a nap. But, on top of all that, he needed food in his system. Alec groaned. 

 

He had Law next. He rolled his eyes. He pulled out the map that Maia had drew him. As he was looking at it, he smelt sandalwood next to him. It was a delicious smell. Alec looked next to him to see Magnus standing there, staring at him. 

 

“Magnus?” Alec asked. 

 

“I’m back. Sorry.” Magnus said. Alec chuckled and blushed. Why could he not stop blushing around Magnus. 

 

“I have two things for you.” Magnus said. 

 

“Two things?” Alec asked, shocked. 

 

Magnus pulled out the copy he had dropped of ‘The Great Gatsby’ out of his bag and an apple.

 

“I saw you didn’t eat anything.” Magnus said, forwarding the apple to Alec. Alec grabbed it and smiled. 

 

“Magnus, you really shouldn’t have.” Alec said. 

 

“Oh, it was nothing. Also, here’s the book you dropped yesterday.” Magnus said. 

 

“Magnus, I was about to go back today and buy it again.” Alec said. 

 

“Now you don’t have to.” Magnus said, Alec looked at the book, grazed his hand against it, smiled. 

 

“Besides, it’s my favourite. Everyone should be able to experience ‘The Great Gatsby.’” Magnus said with a wink. Alec blushed.

 

“Thank you so much. How can I repay you?” Alec asked. 

 

“Nonsense, darling.” Magnus said. Alec blushed harder. He was not used to this kind of attention. Although, he did enjoy it. 

 

“But, there is one thing you can do,” Magnus started, Alec looked at him attentively, “watch the movie after you’re done the book.” 

 

“Is it any good?” Alec asked. 

 

“It is. Leonardo DiCaprio looked absolutely fabulous.” Magnus said, off in a daydream. 

 

Alec only smiled and nodded. He then walked off to his Law class. One he was not at all looking forward to. His parents must have chosen his courses. Alec knew his parents wanted him to be a lawyer, but Alec didn’t want that. Deep down. On the surface, Alec had seemed to convince himself that being a lawyer was what he wanted. 

 

Alec opened the book Magnus had handed him to the very first page, it had a number and ‘Call Me xoxo’ written on it. Alec blushed. Was this Magnus’ number? Did he want to call it? Yes. But did he know for sure if it was his? No. Alec had to wait to find out. 

 

Alec strolled into his Law class. This class did not have as many students as the other classes he had been in. This was an elective. So, Alec assumed many students didn’t want to be lawyers. Good for them. They shouldn’t have to go through the pain. 

 

Alec walked in and found a seat at the very back for him to sit. Alec knew he was not going to pay as close attention to this class as he did his English class. 

 

—

 

After sitting through 75 minutes of Law, it was safe to say Alec wanted to scream. He had chemistry next, and his class was downstairs. Alec managed to pass through the countless students. All of them buzzing, ready for last period to end. 

 

Once Alec had reached his chemistry class, they had seats similar to the ones he had in Biology. He had to have a partner. It seemed as if everyone was already paired up. He went up to his teacher, Ms. Blackthorn. 

 

“I’m Alec Lightwood. I’m the new student.” Alec explained. 

 

“Ah, I have you on my list. Here’s your textbook. You can take a seat next to Magnus.” Ms. Blackthorn said, handing him a textbook. Alec took the textbook. He realized what she had said. _Magnus._ Alec had not seen him when he walked in. He was not hard to find. It was safe to say, he stuck out in a crowd. 

 

“Alec!” Magnus called. Alec loaded where that velvety voice was coming from, and sat beside him. 

 

“What a coincidence.” Magnus clapped. Alec gave him a faint smile and focused his attention to the board. 

 

“You know, we have such great chemistry, we should do biology together.” Magnus winked. Alec blushed profusely. 

 

“Your blush is adorable.” Magnus cooed. Alec blushed harder. Why couldn’t he stop? Magnus chuckled and diverted his attention back to the board. 

 

When the bell rang, Alec was not wasting any time. He ran out of that classroom and up to his locker. 

 

When Alec finally got to his locker, he grabbed all of his books and ran downstairs. He wanted to go home. Right now. He, of course had to wait for Isabelle and Jace. 

 

When Alec finally reached the front of the building, Isabelle and Jace were waiting for him right there. How did they get there so fast? Well, Alec’s locker was on the top floor and the rush to go home did not exactly help Alec. 

 

“Alec!” Isabelle called when she saw him. She waved her hand in the air so he could locate her. 

Alec jogged over to her and slung an arm around her shoulder. 

 

“Ready to go?” Jace asked. 

 

“I was born ready.” Isabelle said. 

 

“As I’ll ever be.” Alec said. 

 

“I’m sensing some deja vu here.” Jace joked. Alec and Izzy chuckled, walking to the parking lot. Jace opened the door of the car and sat inside, Izzy and Alec followed. 

 

“So, how was your day?” Alec asked. 

 

“You sound like such a Mom.” Jace joked. 

 

“Well, someone has to be your Mom because our real Mom can’t be.” Alec snapped. He had no idea why he had said that. It just came out. Like word-vomit. 

 

“Oh Alec.” Isabelle said, her features softening and her voice quitting down. 

 

“We know the ridiculous pressure they put on you.” Jace said, placing his hand on Alec’s upper arm. 

 

“If we could, we’d take it upon ourselves.” Isabelle said. 

 

“I know, it’s okay.” Alec said, taking a deep breath to clear a little of his mind. This took an unexpected turn. One Alec did not know why he took. 

 

“So, what’d you guys do today?” Alec asked, clapping his hands together, hoping to change the topic. 

 

“I had Gym, Drama, Lunch, Math, English.” Jace explained. 

 

“You had a good day.” Alec noticed. 

 

“I did. I think I’m gonna like it here.” Jace said. 

 

“I do too.” Alec confirmed. 

 

“If anyone cares about me, can we get onto my day?” Isabelle asked, melodramatically.

 

“Yes, Iz, how was your day?” Alec asked. 

 

“Mine was good. I mean, not bad for a first day at our new school.” Izzy said. 

 

“You put on such an act just to tell us that?” Alec asked. 

 

Izzy nodded, with more pride than was needed. 

 

“How about your day, big brother?” Isabelle asked, patting his shoulder. 

 

“Mine was good.” Alec said, smiling bigger than he should. Izzy got suspicious. 

 

“You saw Magnus?” Izzy figured out. 

 

“Whomst?” Jace asked. 

 

“How’d you know?” Alec exclaimed. 

 

“I saw that smile when you talked about him yesterday, it’s the same one you have right now.” Izzy explained. 

 

“Wow, I feel left out.” Jace pouted. 

 

“Start driving and I’ll explain.” Alec chuckled. Jace obliged and started the car, reversing out of the parking space. 

 

“So, yesterday, I saw Magnus at the bookstore and he was really pretty and I acted like a chaotic gay and ran out.” Alec explained. 

 

“Idiot!” Jace said, smacking Alec’s shoulder. 

 

“Well, I talked to him today. He’s in my Chem class.” Alec explained. 

 

“And…” Izzy asked, waving her hands, gesturing for Alec to continue talking. 

 

“I was holding a book yesterday and he said it was one of his favourites. I dropped it before I could buy it. Today, he brought it for me and left his number in it, I think?” Alec said, giving the book to Isabelle. 

 

“Also, my friend, Simon, the one who I sat with at lunch is dating Raphael.” Alec said. 

 

“Raphael Santiago?” Izzy choked out. 

 

“Yeah, our neighbour.” Alec explained. 

 

“How do you know?” Jace asked. 

 

“He and Simon were holding hands under the table, I saw them. It wasn’t very subtle. They were acting all cutesy at lunch. Raphael and Magnus are really close friends.” Alec said. 

 

“Well, I guess we’ll be seeing more Magnus around the building.” Izzy teased. 

 

“I wanna meet this Magnus.” Jace said. 

 

“We’re just friends.” Alec defended. 

 

“Sure.” Izzy and Jace said. 

 

“Whatever.” Alec scoffed. The three rode in silence to their house. When they arrived home, neither their parents or Max was home. They were confused, but decided to leave it. Alec warmed up some leftover food and Izzy and Jace were on their phones at the table. Alec brought their plates to them and they still were on their phones. 

 

“What are you doing on that thing?” Alec hissed. 

 

“Texting.” They both answered. 

 

“Who? You were here for one day!” Alec complained. 

 

“Yeah, but I made a friend.” Izzy said. 

 

“Oh, what’s their name?” Alec asked.

 

“Camille Belcourt.” Izzy said. Alec sighed and ate his food. 

 

“You two are insufferable.” Alec complained. 

 

“You love us.” Jace and Izzy said in unison, eyes glued to their phones. 

 

“Sure.” Alec rolled his eyes. He did, more than he’d like to admit. When Alec was done eating, he placed his dishes in the dishwasher and made his way upstairs to his room. 

 

 

Alec opened the book Magnus had given him. He looked at the number and bit his bottom lip. Should he text him? Is it even his number? Does he even like Alec? Who knew. Alec decided to take the chance. He did not know what to say though. Izzy was much better at this stuff. Should he be coy and aloof or straight to the point? Alec decided a simple ‘hey’ and ‘it’s alec’ would be nice. 

 

_Hey, Magnus. It’s Alec._ He sent. He was assuming that it was Magnus’ number. There was no other explanation. 

 

An answer came right away. _I saw you got my little note ;)_

 

_It was kind of hard to miss._ Alec replied. 

 

_So am I ;)_ Magnus replied. Alec smiled and shook his head. He closed his phone and started to read the book. He now did not have an actual reading space. In LA he had a reading space in his library because it was a room. Now, Alec has a feeling if he tries to read in his book closet, he’ll end up dead in there. So, he decides to stay in his room. It’s the place with the most privacy. Alec cracks open his book and inhales the new book smell. It’s Alec’s favourite scent in the world. He opens to the very first page of the very first chapter and is instantly immersed in the book. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! new chapter will be out soon! have a fantabulous day darlings!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Furniture and bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i just wanted to thank you all for the continued support. all the kudos and comments brighten my day! i appreciate all of them greatly. 
> 
> forgive me for any grammar mistakes! they're all mine and mine only. comment one if you find it and i'll fix it! 
> 
> that's all from me babes! enjoy!

Alec did not even realize how long he was reading for. He only snapped back into reality when Izzy came into his room, telling him to eat dinner. All good things come to an end, unfortunately. 

 

“You guys ate?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yeah, we ordered pizza.” Izzy said, walking off. Alec followed her, sliding his bookmark on his page and placing it carefully on his bed. His furniture had yet to arrive, so everything was all over the floor and his bed. It was, as per say, unconventional. 

 

“When?” Alec asked. 

 

“Like two hours ago.” Izzy chuckled. “We figured you had to get hungry sometime.” She elaborated. 

 

Alec’s stomach gurgled and he looked down at it. “You figured right, I was too concentred to notice.”

 

Izzy chuckled. “Did you get any homework?” She asked. Alec smacked his forehead with his palm and rubbed it. 

 

“Crap.” Alec said under his breath. 

 

“That means you did and you forgot.” Izzy said. 

 

“What time is it?” Alec asked. 

 

“Almost 9pm.” Isabelle said, checking her phone. 

 

“I was reading for 5 hours?” Alec asked, astounded at himself and the book. Usually, Alec took breaks whilst reading every 2 hours. This book managed to keep his attention for 5 whole hours. Alec now knew why Magnus loved this book. 

 

Izzy just laughed softly. When they arrived, their parents and Max still had not been home. Alec had no idea why they were taking so long. He did not want to interrupt anything, so he did not bother calling. He knew they probably would be furious at him for calling, after not picking up. Alec was not in the mood for a scolding. 

 

Alec grabbed a plate and took a piece of pizza on the plate. There was pepperoni and cheese. He did not comprehend why his siblings ordered two extra large pizzas for three people. Regardless, what was done is done, and he grabbed a slice of cheese. He never liked pepperoni. He wondered why Jace was so obsessed with it. Probably protein. 

 

Alec sat at the table with his pizza and scrolled through his phone, taking a huge bite. The contents empty, he had no notifications. He was okay with that. He, instead was looking through his Twitter. His sister had managed to convince him to create one and he was completely addicted to it. He loved following his favourite authors and seeing what kind of content they come out with next. Alec liked to be updated. He would never let Izzy gloat to him about his Twitter obsession, so he kept it under wraps. 

 

“Um, Alec?” Isabelle asked, placing her hand atop Alec’s. 

 

“Hmm?” Alec asked, shifting his face to look at her, but his eyes still scanning his phone. 

 

 

“Alec!” Izzy called again, voice raised. 

 

Alec shut his phone off and looked at her with his full attention this time. “What is it, Izzy?” Alec asked. 

 

“I have to tell you something.” Izzy said, looking tense. As if she were concerned about something. Alec switched to big brother mode and placed his other hand on top of hers and shook it a little. 

 

“What is it?” Alec asked, in a quieter voice. 

 

“You,” she started, Alec was now confused. What about him? What had he done? “have sauce on your face.” Izzy exclaimed. Alec took a breath of relief. He was worried something had really happened. But, with the relief came the anger at Izzy. 

 

“Izzy! What the hell! I thought something had actually happened!” Alec said, flicking he forehead, as hard as he could. 

 

“Ow!” Isabelle shouted, rubbing the place Alec had flicked, wincing her eyes in pain.

 

“Deserved it.” Alec said, sticking his tongue out. He grabbed a napkin and wiped the sauce off of the side of his mouth. 

 

“Meanie!” Izzy said. 

 

“Really, Izzy? Meanie?” Alec mocked, “What are we, 5?” 

 

Izzy crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted. Alec smiled, looking at Isabelle. He made his way to her and wrapped his arms around her. She uncrossed her arms and hugged Alec back. Alec kissed her forehead and let go of her. 

 

“I love you.” Alec said. 

 

“Love you too.” Izzy said. 

 

—

  
Alec ran upstairs after he completed his dinner. He had to finish his homework that he was assigned. It completely slipped his mind that he had homework. He begrudgingly finished his homework. His mind still on the phenomenal book he was reading. Also, the gorgeous human that gave him the book to read.

 

Alec put in the most minimal effort possible. This was stretching out longer than Alec would have liked. He completely scribbled in all of his answers, his writing was completely illegible. Once, he was mildly content with his work, he shoved all of his work in a folder, praying he’d remember where it was tomorrow morning, placing said folder in his backpack and chucking the backpack across the room. He did not want to see the face of school right now. This book was really doing things to him. Or was it the person who gave it to him? All Alec knew was that he wanted to finish this book and talk to Magnus about it. 

 

Once, Alec had finished the book, it was around 1am. He hated that majority of that time was spent doing useless homework. Alec placed his book next to him on the bed and opened his phone. 

 

He opened his thread with Magnus, which was limited to 5 or 6 texts. Alec bit his lip, not being certain if he should text Magnus or not. It was quite late, and Alec did not want to be a disturbance. Especially in beauty sleep. Really, Alec? Beauty sleep? Alec shook his head and closed his thread. He figured he’d talk to Magnus tomorrow. 

 

Alec realized the book was less than 200 pages. Why did it take hours for him to read? He finished books with 200 pages within the snap of his fingers. Alec opened the book and read the first page and realized why he had taken so long. 

 

_‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you've had.’_ Alec thought about that quote from the book. It had hit hard to home. He was complaining about his parents, his sexuality, his love life, his friends, his petty first world problems, and there were people in the world who have had worst than him. He had food to eat, a stunning home to live in, potential great friends, the best siblings in the world, a library of his own, education, parents who let him buy whatever the hell he wants. There was no need for him to complain. Alec had no reason to complain.

 

Alec closed the book and placed it beside him again. His head landed on the pillow and Alec dug his face into his palms. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers and tried to fall asleep. As he thought and thought more about the book, he thought more about Magnus. He pushed his feelings away, and attempted to think about something else. What else? Furniture was arriving tomorrow! Guess that was the plan for the day, then. Furniture building. He wasn’t specifically mad about it. He didn’t want to build furniture, as much as he wanted his room to be done and him to stop worrying about it. 

 

Suddenly, Alec heard the door open downstairs. Their home was silent, so you could hear a pin drop. Izzy and Jace had disappeared in their rooms. Probably asleep. Alec remembered his parents were not yet home. He skipped down the stairs, to see his Dad carrying Max, and his Mother beside him, shutting the door. 

 

“Mom?” Alec whispered. 

 

“Alexander, what are you doing up? It’s late!” Maryse whispered with a tone. 

 

“I couldn’t sleep. Where were you guys?” Alec asked.

 

“Private school testings.” Maryse said. 

 

At this point Alec did not bother questioning whatever his parents did. He knew it would end up in them telling him to stay out of their business. Robert had already passed through Alec and was now putting Max to bed upstairs. His baby brother must have been exhausted. He was up all day. It was cruel of them to have him be out all day. 

 

“Good night.” Alec said, waving and walking upstairs. He walked into his room, shut the door as silently as possible and jumped onto his bed. He had a better time trying to sleep now. His parents were finally home, as was his baby brother, who he was mainly concerned for. He knew his parents would take care of him, but their parents tended to place their business before their kids. Hence why Alec and his siblings almost never saw his parents. 

 

Alec fell asleep. It was now 1:30am. Alec was never going to wake up the next day. Guess there’s nothing really like being sleep deprived during school, right? Alec had barely a couple hours of sleep yesterday, and today he would be able to sleep for a good 4 hours. Alec also knew he would not take anyone’s shit in the morning. They all got to sleep and he didn’t. Well, it was also kind of his fault. Alec slept like a baby for the next four hours. Until his alarm started blaring infuriating sounds. Alec smacked his phone. Probably not the smarted idea. He did not have the snooze setting on his alarm set. Knowing, once he pressed snooze, he would sleep through the entire day. He had to endure that dreadful noise until he was eventually fed up of it and got out of bed. As soon as he got out, he was freezing. It was fall time in New York. This was not LA, where it’s hot all the time. Alec shuddered as he walked into his washroom. He hated cold. Scratch that, he despised the cold.

 

Alec splashed water on his face. He did not realize how cold the water was on his hands, his face had to suffer through that. He was now really awake. Alec opened the shower. He was the morning showerer in the house. Everyone else took showers after. Alec liked them awakening him further in the morning. Jace and Izzy were concerned for how their hair looked at school, so washing it at night was the only way they could style it in the morning, without the huge hassle. Alec, for one, did not give how his hair looked. He enjoyed comfort. Also, who was he trying to impress? Magnus. What? How did that thought end up in his brain? He pushed it aside and went back to getting ready. 

 

Alec decided it was too cold for a t-shirt, so he grabbed his favourite black crew neck sweatshirt. He slipped it on, instantly feeling the warmth that came along with it. He wore an identical pair of jeans that he wore yesterday. He wore his favourite combat boots and slung on his backpack. He wrote a little reminder on his arm where his homework was placed. He grabbed all of his materials for the first two periods and brought them home, dodging having to climb three stories for his locker and then coming all the way back down to the first floor.

 

Alec walked into Jace’s room. Yesterday was the only time they had been awake before Alec. Alec still had towage them up every morning. Which proved to be more difficult than before. He would always have to take drastic measures for them to wake up. No matter how kind, patient and caring Alec was, he was not those in the morning. Also, Jace and Izzy never liked anything to be done easily, they always made Alec wake them up the hard way. 

 

“Jace! Wake the hell up!” Alec screeched. He was not having it this morning. 

 

“Go away Alec.” Jace whined. 

 

“Jace, I swear I will drop ice water on your face. I did it once, I can do it again. If you do not wake up right now, say goodbye to your perfect hair.” Alec teased. Jace loved his hair. He took great pride in it. 

 

Jace sat up, as soon as he heard about the hair. He got up and ran to the washroom immediately. “Good.” Alec smiled to himself. He now had to go awaken Izzy. Who took longer to get ready than Alec and Jace combined. 

 

“Isabelle Sophia Lightwood! Rise and shine!” Alec yelled into her ear. Isabelle’s reflexes immediately went to punch Alec on the face. He moved back in time for her to not attack him.

 

“Izzy time to wake up!” Alec yelled. Izzy just groaned. 

 

“I don’t want to.” Izzy complained. 

 

“Too bad, we gotta get to school.” Alec said, ripping the cover off of her. The temperature in their home was too cold, Alec had to turn up the thermostat. Izzy shivered and reached out for her cover. 

 

 

“Alec!” Izzy whined. 

 

“Izzy!” Alec whined, mocking her tone. “Time to get up.” Alec continued. Izzy groaned and jumped out of her bed. Alec gave her a vindictive smile and walked out. He went downstairs, to see Jace there, eating. Alec walked over and opened the fridge door, staring at it, confused as to what to eat. He settled on a container of yogurt. He opened the drawer and found a small spoon. Alec walked to the table, sitting in front of Jace, opening his yogurt. 

 

“Did you finish your homework?” Alec asked. 

 

Jace nodded in answer. “I finished before you did, for sure.” Jace teased. 

 

“You did your homework on time?” Alec asked, almost about to spit out the yogurt in his mouth. Jace never did his homework. Ever. Alec felt as if he were dreaming. Jace, doing his homework? Unbelievable.

 

“Yeah, new school, new me.” Jace shrugged, drinking his protein shake. 

 

“Damn.” Alec answered. He was proud of his little brother for actually being responsible for once in his entire life. 

 

“I’m here!” Izzy yelled, settling her backpack on her shoulders. 

 

“Ready to go?” Alec asked, throwing his container of yogurt out. Jace and Izzy nodded in agreement. Alec clapped his hands together and grabbed the keys. The three siblings waited for the elevator in the hallway, soon to be joined by Raphael. 

 

Raphael looked at the Lightwoods, Alec in particular. He tipped his chin and greeted him, “Lightwood.” 

 

Alec gave him a clipped nod and returned the greeting, “Santiago.” 

 

Raphael brought his chin back down and said, “I’m glad we have an understanding.” Alec chuckled, covering his mouth and looked over at Izzy and Jace, who were just confused. To be fair, Alec himself was confused as to what was happening. 

 

The elevator arrived and Izzy, Jace, Alec, Raphael piled into it. “How’s Simon?” Alec whispered. 

 

“We both know he’s fine and also we both don’t do small talk.” Raphael snapped. 

 

Alec backed off and did not bother asking anymore questions. They reached their desired destination and got off the elevator. Alec noticed that Isabelle and Raphael had gotten along just fine. He was great around her. 

 

“Goodbye Isabelle.” Raphael said, in a soft tone, walking away. 

 

“Bye, Raphael!” Isabelle waved. 

 

The three Lightwood siblings walked to their car, which was still parked unbelievably far from the elevator. 

 

“Why is Raphael so nice to you?” Jace asked, taking the words out of Alec’s mouth. 

“I have that affect on people.” Isabelle shrugged. 

 

“Come on.” Jace urged, nudging Izzy’s shoulder lightly.

 

“I’m not rude or stupid, like you both.” Izzy explained. 

 

Jace and Alec looked at each other with an offended look. Their little sister had called them rude and stupid? Since when? 

 

“We aren’t rude or stupid.” Alec argued. 

 

“Sure.” Izzy said, rolling her eyes sarcastically, stretching out her words. Alec and Jace decided to leave it alone and sat down in the car. 

 

Alec drove all the way to school. Izzy had her music playing. She had a current obsession with Kehlani. Alec was not upset. He had heard of her. She was the queer queen. Alec loved her voice. Isabelle played ‘Good Life,’ and Jace almost burst into tears. 

 

“Turn that off!” Jace said, brushing tears off his face. 

 

“Why? It’s a good song.” Alec argued. 

 

“This song has way too many emotions.” Jace whined. 

 

“It was in Fate of the Furious, after Dom said he named his kid Brian.” Izzy explained. Ah, Jace loved that series. Still didn’t get why he was emotional because Dom named his kid Brian. But, in the end, he did not question it. 

 

Alec, Jace and Izzy arrived at school after an hour and a half. They hated the drive. It was awful. Why did their parents choose a school in Brooklyn when they lived in Manhattan? Sometimes, Alec questioned his parents and the decisions they made for him and his siblings. 

 

Alec arrived to school, and the first person he saw was Magnus. 

 

“Alec!” Magnus called, with a smile plastered on his face. 

 

Alec jogged over to him, dodging the cars in the way. When he reached Magnus, he smiled. 

 

“Good Morning, Alexander.” Magnus said. 

 

“How did you know my full name?” Alec asked. 

 

“Lucky guess.” Magnus said, a quirk in the corner of his lips. 

 

“Good Morning to you as well, Magnus.” Alec said. Magnus started walking into the building, gesturing for Alec to follow him. 

 

Alec held up a finger and said, “Wait,” he grabbed the book Magnus had gave him, “thank you.” 

 

“You’re welcome, Alexander.” Magnus smiled. Alec handed the book to Magnus. 

 

“What are you doing, darling?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Returning it. I finished.” Alec explained. Magnus pushed Alec’s hand back into his chest. 

 

“Darling, I bought that for you to keep.” Magnus deadpanned

 

Alec looked like a deer in headlights. His heart pounding out of his chest as Magnus was touching him. “Oh, no! I couldn’t!” Alec countered. There was no way he wasting to accept a present from Magnus, when he had only known him for a couple days. 

 

“Alexander, it’s alright. I didn’t even have to pay for it.” Magnus reassured. Alec was perplexed. Why didn’t Magnus have to pay for it? Alec thought for a while, his mouth gaped open.

 

“This is your copy?” Alec asked. “I really can’t Magnus.” 

 

“Alexander, Luke is my adoptive father, I just took it. It’s alright. Consider it a welcoming gift.” Magnus said, clapping his hands together and giving Alec a hopeful smile. Alec was not having it. 

 

“I-I can’t.” Alec said. 

 

“Fine, consider it a gift from Luke for all those books you donated.” Magnus argued. That one did not work either. Alec pouted and was not about to give up. 

 

“Magnus, really, I read it. Please take it back.” Alec said. 

 

“Fine, if you’re really that keen on this, you can get me something. But, you cannot spend any money on it.” Magnus challenged. 

 

“Deal.” Alec smiled. The bell then rang and Alec was so absorbed in convincing Magnus to take back the book, that he forgot he was even at school at all. 

 

“Gotta go.” Alec said. 

 

“So do I. See you at lunch?” Magnus asked. 

 

“You wanna sit with me at lunch?” Alec asked, emphasizing the ‘you.’ 

 

“Of course. We must discuss Gatsby and all of it’s greatness.” Magnus smiled. He patted Alec on the shoulder and walked away. When Alec saw Magnus walk away, and into the building, Alec realized he also had class. He practically ran into class. Praying he was not late.

 

Thank the angel, there were still students coming into the class. Alec very swiftly slid into the seat next to Simon’s. 

 

“Did you do the homework?” Alec asked. Simon nodded, holding up his sheet for Alec to see. Alec then felt ashamed of what he had done. He wanted to finish his book so badly, that he completely forgot about school. Alec opened his bag and rummaged around in it, his sleeve pulling up, reminding him where his homework was. Alec grabbed the folder and slipped out his worksheet. Looking at the disgraceful work he had done, he was not feeling proud. Mr.Wayland came around to do a homework-check. Alec struggled to understand what he wrote on the page. Mr. Wayland, fortunately, was only checking for completion. Which, Alec had completed the sheet. The entire page was covered in writing. So, Alec decided he was safe. As Mr. Wayland came around, he took a peek at the sheet and moved on. He gave Alec’s and Simon’s a firm nod and walked away. Alec sighed in relief. 

 

Mr. Wayland began teaching new content. Alec payed attention. He had to get outstanding grades or his parents would disown him. It was clear that Alec’s parents had chosen Izzy, Jace and his courses. Alec would have never taken a science class. Alec scribbled notes on a piece of paper he intended to keep, but knew he would lose. When Alec was not fond of a subject, he paid no mind to his sheets. He threw them around and was not quite so intrigued in what he was learning. He’d do his homework on a whim. His grades tended to be brought up during projects and exams. His homework marks were dreadful, but when it came to projects and exams, Alec poured his heart and soul into them. Even if he was not interested in the subject. He’d rather go through the classes and exams, than face his parent’s wrath. 

 

Alec practically ran out of the biology room. He did not want to be near science. He was glad to have English class next. His favourite class of the day. His teacher did an oral read aloud to the class of the current chapter they were on. Alec paid close attention, marking parts of the story he thought was interesting with stickies and wrote little notes on them. He was the only one scribbling things down as everyone was just listening. Some people were not even listening. They were on their phones or even taking a nap. Welcome to high school. Alec was not someone ever to take a nap or use his phone during class. Even if he hated the subject, he had respect for his teachers and the time they take to teach him these things. So the least he could do is at least pay attention. This class, he liked. His book was covered in sticky notes and was now double the thickness it was before. This class felt shorter for some reason. Time flies when you’re having fun. The lunch bell rang and he groaned. He had to walk all the way up to his locker to put his books away. He did not want to lug around his Biology textbook all day. His back was about to break. Who made these textbooks? 

 

Alec reached his locker and threw his books in the locker. He slammed his locker door shut and started walking down to the cafeteria. He walked to the lunch line. Why did he keep forgetting to make lunch? In LA, Alec never bought lunch. It was disgusting. Alec grabbed a tray and took one glance at the food. It actually look…. edible. Alec smiled and asked for a slice of pizza. The lunch lady took a slice of pizza and carefully placed it on Alec’s plate. He saw the cheese oozing off the pizza, sticking out from all the sides. 

 

Alec grabbed a water bottle and walked to the cashier. He payed the fee and walked away. He was walking by and he saw Izzy sitting with her new ‘friend.’ He’s seen her around the halls. It was safe to say that Alec did not like her. She seemed… off. Like a typical ‘mean girl.’ She was a shark in designer jeans. Don’t get it wrong. She was stunning. Her brown eyes occupied most of her face, making her look cute. But, she had that intense liner, ruining her innocence. Her skin like porcelain. Her hands manicured, her hair let loose behind her back. Her long hair was wavy and looked like caramel. It was gorgeous. Like Izzy, she had red lipstick on. Alec did not like this choice of friend for his little sister. Alec knew he could not control who Izzy hangs out with. She’s her own person and she knows what’s best for herself.   


Izzy spots Alec and waves to him with a big ol’ smile. Alec smiles back at his little sister. Then, Camille darts in and pulls her arm down. She whispers something in her ear and shakes her head in disappointment. Isabelle suddenly looks vulnerable. She never had anyone tell her what to do. She always was her own person. Never was the type to take orders from anyone. But, here she was, doing what Camille says. Alec could not believe what he saw. Alec fought off the urge to walk over to Camille and set her straight. Alec held it in and turned around. 

  
When Alec turned around, he met eyes with Magnus. Magnus smiled and his eyes were still set on Alec’s. Magnus called him over with his hands. Alec obliged. He walked over. At the table were the regular people. Cat, Raphael, Simon, Ragnor, Clary and Magnus. Alec was the extra addition to their little group. Alec felt very welcome. Especially because of Magnus and Simon. Alec walked stood at the head of their table and everyone smiled at him, except Raphael, of course. Alec paid no mind to that. Magnus called for Alec to sit in front of him. He looked ready for a discussion. Alec was also dying to talk about the book with someone. He found someone, and that someone was none other than, Magnus Bane. Alec was still in awe that someone that attractive would wanna talk to him, and flirt with him. Alec pinched himself mentally when he talked to Magnus. Just to make sure he was not dreaming, even though he was almost 100% sure he was dreaming.

 

“Alexander!” Magnus called, when Alec dropped his plate on the table and slid into the table, next to Simon, who’s hands were interlocked with Raphael’s. 

 

“Magnus.” Alec greeted, trying to keep his cool. Magnus loved Alec’s full name. It was so well suited for him. He was so immersed in his siblings and protecting them. He had seen Alec with his siblings and it was beautiful. They were one well oiled machine. Alec was more than just… Alec. Thus, Alexander. Something about Alexander felt so much more wholesome and more fitting for Alec. 

 

“So, how did you like ‘The Great Gatsby?’’ Magnus asked, his elbows placed on the table and his palms cupping his cheeks. He was smiling like a dork. Alec loved it. 

 

“I thought it was great.” Alec said. Magnus looked disappointed. His smile turned into a pout and he was lost in thought. 

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Alec said, his voice small. 

 

“Yes.” Magnus said, plainly. That was when Alec knew he messed up. He took a swallowed hard, struggling to have it reach all the way down his throat. “Alec, we never call ‘The Great Gatsby’ simply great. It already says that in the title. For such a bookworm, I would have expected more descriptive words.” Magnus explained. Alec exhaled in relief. He had thought Magnus was offended by something. 

 

“We use words such as, extraordinary, extravagant, stupendous, brilliant.” Magnus explained. 

 

“Well, all I can say is that those words do not even begin to describe how outstanding it was.” Alec said, taking a bite of his pizza. 

 

Magnus gave him a considerate nod, “Touché.” 

 

Alec chuckled. Him and Magnus spent the rest of the time talking about ‘The Great Gatsby,’ and eventually moved onto other books that they had in common. For the first time, Alec finally felt as if he found someone who loved books as much as him. 

 

“Have you read ‘Call Me By Your Name?’” Magnus asked. 

 

“No, I’ve been dying to.” Alec said. 

 

“Believe me, it’s worth dying for.” Magnus winked. Alec’s breath hitched when he saw the wink. It was such a small gesture and still Alec was unable to remain in control. 

 

“I haven’t found it anywhere. It’s sold out.” Alec complained, after regaining control of his breath. 

 

“Luke has it! Come by later and grab it!” Magnus encouraged, his face lighting up. Alec’s face turned tense and nervous. Magnus immediately thought he had done something wrong. Was it too forward of him to ask Alec to come by Luke’s bookstore later? Was it too early in their friendship? “I’m sorry. That was too forward.” Magnus said, shaking his head. 

 

“No, no!” Alec said, a little to loud, “I want too, it’s just I have furniture coming today, so I can’t.” Alec said, sounding disappointed. 

 

“You want an extra pair of hands?” Magnus asked. Alec’s frown turned upside down, and then faded. As if he were excited then got nervous. 

 

“You want to? I don’t want to force you.” Alec said. 

 

“I volunteered, didn’t I?” Magnus asked. 

 

“You did.” Alec smiled. 

 

“I’ll get a ride home with Raphael.” Magnus said. 

 

“You will what with Raphael?” Raphael asked, turning his head in the direction of Magnus, interested in their conversation, his eyebrow cocked. 

 

“I’m going to Alec’s house, so you can drop me home.” Magnus said, smiling innocently. 

 

Raphael rolled his eyes, “Dios! I have no interest in spending anymore time with you than I have to.” 

 

“You love me.” Magnus teased. 

 

“Actually, I’m going over to Raph’s.” Simon butted in.

 

“Have fun with your boyfriend.” Magnus cooed. 

 

“Yeah, and you with yours.” Raphael teased. Alec blushed a bright crimson that rose to his cheeks from his neck. 

 

Magnus stuck his tongue out at Raphael. Not having a comeback clever enough to say, knowing Raphael will come up with something brilliant. 

 

Once Alec got his blush under control, Alec took a deep breath and once he had control over his mouth, he said, “It’s fine, Magnus. You’re my guest, I will drop you home.” Alec gave a wry smile and rubbed the back of his neck. Magnus nodded eagerly and beamed at Alec. 

 

Alec and Magnus suffered through the rest of their classes. Suffering through Chemistry together. Their teacher had decided to spare them today and not assign them any homework. She was clearly feeling generous. Alec and Magnus felt victorious in that moment, especially Alec, having more time to spend with Magnus, not doing homework. 

 

Alec walked upstairs to his locker, trying to beat the rush. He reached there in time, although, as he was all packed, the traffic was in full blow. Alec sighed. Why did his locker have to be all the way upstairs? As he readjusted his backpack on his shoulder. Right as he was about to embark on his adventure through the crowds, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Alec turned right around, in shock? Who was tapping him on the shoulder? Alec turned right around, in one smooth movement to find himself inches away from Magnus’ face. Alec too two steps back. 

 

“I’m coming with you, aren’t I?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Yeah, I was about to text you.” Alec chocked out.

 

“Good thing I found you then.” Magnus beamed. 

 

“You ready?” Alec asked. Magnus nodded more enthusiastically than he deemed necessary. The truth was, Magnus was ecstatic to be spending time with Alec. Something about him just drew Magnus in and he wanted to know more. He was so kind, and patient. Alec was nowhere near what Magnus would have expected for someone so rich. Alec’s siblings flaunted their money. They dressed as if they bathed in pools of money. Alec was not like that. He was humble and did not give off the sense that his parents were loaded. He did not even give off the vibe that he was a trust fund kid. Alec seemed to work hard for everything he had accomplished and none of it was handed to him. Magnus admired that. That was also what made Alec so interesting. It was almost as if Alec had unlocked a piece of Magnus’ heart just in their first couple meetings. Magnus was unsure if Alec felt the same way, so he backed off, unlike their first meeting, where Magnus took the liberty of kissing his hand. 

  
Alec gave Magnus a clipped nod and started walking forward. Magnus followed behind him. Alec was tall, to say the least. He was 6’3. So, it was safe to say, he was a tree. It was not hard to follow him around. He was easy to spot. His head was always sticking out in the crowd because of how tall he was. Everyone seemed like ants next to him. Alec was walking unbelievably quick. Magnus was soon finding it difficult to find Alec in the crowd. Magnus tried to keep up, weaving his way through the crowds. Magnus managed to find Alec, swerving his way through the crowds. Which was not at all easy. Magnus grabbed Alec’s arm, to latch onto so he doesn’t lose Alec again. Alec felt the palm circle his bicep. He looked to see nail polish on the tanned hand. It could only be Magnus’. Alec stopped in his tracks, looked at Magnus who was also staring at him. Alec moved his arm to Magnus’ hand wasn’t there and clasped his hand into Magnus’, making sure he does not lose Magnus again. Magnus stared at their joint hands and felt his heart burst. He bit his bottom lip to hold back a smile and Alec held on tighter as they moved through the crowd.

 

When they finally reached the ground floor entrance, Alec and him finally stopped and took a deep breath. Alec found his siblings waiting for him at the front. Izzy was leaning against the wall and Jace was sitting on the floor, scrolling through his phone. Izzy noticed when Alec had arrived. 

 

“What took you so long?” Izzy snapped. 

 

“Sorry, traffic.” Alec said, pointing back to the crowds which were still in full blow. 

 

“Okay, and who’s this?” Jace asked, getting up and shrugging his pants up. 

 

“Oh, r-right. This is Magnus.” Alec said, pointing to Magnus. Izzy and Jace looked at their joint hands. Jace smirked and Izzy cocked an eyebrow. Alec had forgotten their hands were still together. It had felt so right and wholesome, that Alec had forgotten it was there. 

 

When he saw their hands still joint together, he quickly slid his hand out of Magnus’ and Magnus gave him an understanding look. Alec appreciated him for that. 

 

“Magnus, this is er Izzy and Jace, my siblings.” Alec said, gesturing to his siblings. Jace and Izzy waved to him, giving him a huge smile. 

 

“So this is bookstore guy?” Jace asked. 

 

“Jace!” Izzy nudged. Jace threw his hands up. 

 

“Magnus was coming to help me build furniture.” Alec explained. Jace and Izzy nodded and they exited the building. 

 

Alec slid into the driver’s seat, Jace in shotgun and Magnus was sitting next to Izzy at the back. 

 

“So, Magnus, where do you get your nails done? I love them.” Izzy started. 

 

Magnus explained where he got them done and they got into a heated conversation about fashion and whatnot. Stuff Alec and Jace were not interested in. Alec played his songs in the car and was humming along to them slowly. Jace was nodding his head back and forth, enjoying the music. 

 

Izzy and Magnus were far from done their conversation. They were so sunk in their conversation, that they were just continuing it all the way up. Alec and Jace rolled their eyes at each other, annoyed of their babbling. 

 

When they all walked into the house, the front entrance was loaded with boxes of their furniture. Alec and Jace looked at each other and gulped. This was going to be a long night. 

 

“Okay, so Izzy’s room first?” Alec asked, clapping his hands together. The three others nodded and proceeded to grab the boxes from the hall. Izzy examined each box to determine what was hers and what was not. She had 6 boxes in total. She had bought more things than Jace and Alec, wanting her room to look absolutely perfect. 2 of those boxes were her bed frame and desk. The rest were accessories and extra decorations. 

 

“So, Izzy and I will carry the desk. You and Magnus good with the bed frame?” Jace asked. Magnus nodded and Alec shrugged. 

 

“Good to get the big stuff out of the way.” Alec noted. Jace nodded and took a deep breath. Alec and Magnus walked over to the bed frame. They looked at each other, nodded and grabbed the bottom with one hand and used their other hand to balance the box. These boxes proved to weigh more than Alec would have liked. Alec and Magnus grunted as they lifted the box off the ground and had it under control.

 

They moved in sync, but at a quick pace. Alec and Magnus wanted to put the box down as soon as possible. That was their motivation. 

 

“Wait, turn around, I’ll walk backwards.” Alec offered. Who was Magnus to veto that? Magnus and Alec turned so that Alec was walking backwards. Alec took a deep breath and took a step. Magnus took a step closer. Their stairs were difficult to climb due to how thin they were and they curled. Alec had to brace himself every time he took a step. They finally made it all the way to the top, and walked quickly to Izzy’s room. Jace and Izzy were not far behind them, struggling to carry the desk. 

 

When Alec and Magnus arrived to Izzy’s room, they placed the box down as calmly and as carefully as they could. Alec stared at his now calloused hands. He rubbed them together. 

 

“Well done.” Magnus said, winking at Alec. Alec felt himself feel more confident, as Magnus was impressed by him. Alec was equally as impressed. Alas, they had four more boxes to haul upstairs. Damn Izzy and her furniture. Alec, Jace, Magnus and Izzy walked downstairs and grabbed the 4 other boxes. These were a huge improvement from the bed frame and the desk. They all lugged it all upstairs and dropped it on Izzy’s floor. 

 

“So bed frame first?” Alec asked. 

 

“Should we ask Raphael if he wants to help?” Izzy asked. 

 

“Dearest, Raphael does not help anyone. Especially when his boyfriend’s over.” Magnus explained. 

 

“I can be very persuasive. The more help, the better.” Izzy stated. She jumped over all the boxes and ran downstairs to get Raphael.

 

“Alright, so bed frame?” Jace asked, clapping his hands together. 

 

Alec, Magnus and Jace walked over to where they placed the bed frame and laid it down flat. 

 

Alec cut the tape open with his keys. He slit through the tape. Jace opened the box and opened the instructions. Jace looked at the instructions, squinting his eyes, Alec understood. Jace always did that when he was not quite able understand what something or someone was saying. 

 

Alec walked over and snatched the instructions right out of Jace’s hands. “Hey!” Jace countered. 

 

“You can’t understand what it’s saying, anyway.” Alec teased. Magnus beamed at Alec. 

 

“So, we have to screw the two longest pieces into the headboard, using the screws.” Alec explained. Jace grabbed the largest piece he saw, and pointed to it. Alec took a peek at it and looked back at the instructions to see if they matched. Alec nodded and Jace proceeded to pull the piece out. 

 

“You two get the headboard.” Jace instructed, taking out the side piece. Alec and Magnus nodded, walking over to the edge of the box. Alec grabbed top of the headboard and the bottom. Magnus mirrored him. 

 

“On three, pull it out.” Alec said. Magnus snickered. Once he had himself in control, he nodded. 

 

“1, 2, 3,” Alec nodded after each number. He and Magnus simultaneously pulled out the headboard. They shifted their feet towards the wall. When they reach the wall, Alec and Magnus leant the headboard against the wall. Jace followed, bringing one of the side pieces to match up against the side of the headboard. 

 

Alec grabbed the screws and screwed the pieces together. Alec, Magnus and Jace continued to place all of Izzy’s furniture without her, together. As they finally finished her bed, Izzy came back, Raphael and Simon looming behind her. Simon had a grin planted on his face, while Raphael was scowling, cursing under his breath. It was clear, all Izzy had to do was convince Simon, which was most probably not difficult at all. Simon would convince Raphael. 

 

“By the angel! It’s perfect! I love it!” Izzy clapped, cheering.

 

“You show up now?” Alec hissed, completely killing her mood. 

 

“I was occupied.” Izzy said. 

 

“We were building your furniture.” Alec said. 

 

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Izzy said. 

 

“Fine.” Alec said. 

 

“We’re doing your desk now.” Magnus explained. 

 

“Great.” Raphael said, rolling his eyes. 

 

“You know, one day your eyeballs will be stuck behind your head because of rolling your eyes so much.” Magnus remarked. 

 

“You would never touch manual labour if you weren’t pining for pretty boy here.” Raphael spat back. 

 

Alec choked on air. He pretended to have not heard what Raphael had said. His act only lasted until there was a scarlet red rise from his neck to the tip of his ear. Alec hid his face, trying to hide his blush. Magnus giggled when he saw Alec’s reaction. When Alec heart his giggle he felt his heart stop. It was so precious. Alec literally almost fell to the floor. 

 

Alec had gotten himself together and once he was alright, he wanted to get right to work. Get what Raphael said out of his head. “So the desk?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yeah, let’s get to work.” Jace said. 

 

Jace walked over to the next box and cupped his hands in front of him, gesturing for Alec to throw him the keys. Alec fished the keys out of his pockets and tossed them to Jace. Jace grabbed it and slashed the tape off the box. He opened the box and found the instructions, throwing them to Alec, not trusting himself like he learned from last time. 

 

Alec caught the sheet of paper between his hands. He opened the brochure to see what they had to do step by step. The bed had taken them 30 minutes. The desk should take them a shorter amount of time. 

 

Alec directed everyone with the desk. They all worked quite well together, except for Raphael, neglecting to follow instructions. Izzy was not much help either. 

 

“Santiago, how about you help Izzy make her bed?” Alec asked. Raphael shrugged. Izzy gave Alec a knowing look and Alec just cocked an eyebrow. Izzy sighed and got up. 

 

“Jace! Can you throw me the keys?” Izzy exclaimed. Jace did not need to be told twice, he grabbed the keys from the loops of his jeans and threw them right to Isabelle who caught them right in the palm of her hand. She proceeded to open the small boxes of all her decor one by one. When she found her bedsheets, she pulled them out and threw them to the floor. She grabbed the pillowcases and the extra throw pillows. Raphael rolled his eyes at how extra Isabelle was acting with her bed. She did not care whatsoever, she grabbed her stuff and sashayed over to her bed. 

 

Alec, Jace, Magnus and Simon were busy fixing Isabelle’s desk. It was a wooden table with black filing drawers. It matched the ambiance of her room perfectly. Her bed was a black headboard and wooden side tabs. She had really thought out her room well. Her bed sheets were lavender and her pillow cases were black. 

 

“Iz, where do you want us to put this?” Alec asked. 

 

“Against the wall that leads onto my closet and washroom.” Izzy instructed. Alec nodded and the three other boys grabbed each leg along with Alec. They all shifted themselves so they could reach the wall and place it right where she wanted. Right as they placed it, Isabelle screeched with glee. 

 

Alec and Jace high fived, proud of themselves. “You’re good here, Izzy?” Alec asked. Izzy nodded. 

 

“Can I keep Raphael with me?” Izzy asked. 

 

“If Raphael is okay with it.” Alec said. Raphael shrugged and Isabelle beamed at him. Alec smiled at her. Jace was confused as to what was happening. 

 

“I’m leaving her to set up her own room. It’ll go by faster if she isn’t there anyway. I love her but she cannot build a desk for the life of her.” Alec chuckled. Jace nodded and the four others headed downstairs to grab Jace’s furniture. Jace only had four boxes. 2 of them were decor and two were his desk and bed. 

 

“So, big stuff first?” Alec asked. Everyone nodded. 

 

“Simon, you’re with me.” Jace said, calling him over. Jace and Simon grabbed the desk, while Alec and Magnus grabbed the bed. 

 

“This feels familiar.” Magnus said. 

 

“I don’t like it.” Alec grunted, picking up the box. Magnus followed and the two started walking. This bed was a lot more easy to carry than Izzy’s. Izzy’s was awful. This one was bearable. Alec and Magnus were well coordinated after the first one. Alec turned around so he was the one walking backwards up the stairs. Magnus followed and as they reached the hall, they walked all the way down until they reached Jace’s room. 

 

Jace and Simon were not far behind. They reached the room as soon as Alec and Magnus placed the bed on the floor. Two more boxes to go. 

 

“You two start, Simon and I will go get the other boxes.” Jace said, walking backwards out of his room. Alec knew exactly what he was trying to do. He was trying to isolate Magnus and Alec. Alec did not know whether to appreciate him or smack him. 

 

“Izzy has the keys.” Alec said, patting himself down to see if he has the keys. As Alec started to walk, Magnus stood in front of him with his hand extended out. 

 

“No need, I’ll get it.” Magnus smiled. Alec nodded back and Magnus frolicked out of the room, walking over to grab the keys from Isabelle. He returned less than a minute later and started to open the box with the bed in it. Alec smiled. 

 

“Thanks.” Alec said. 

 

“I’m here to help aren’t I?” Magnus said. Alec shrugged and bent down to help Magnus open the box.

 

“Instructions.” Magnus fished out, handing the paper to Alec. Alec inspected the paper and read it through, getting a brief understanding. Alec sighed and in that amount of time, Jace and Simon returned with the boxes in their arms. They played the boxes down and Jace rubbed his hands together. 

 

“Who’s ready to build my bed?” Jace asked, smirking. Alec rolled his eyes. Simon and Magnus offered no reaction. Jace brushed it off and bent down next to Magnus, showing he was ready to work. 

 

“Okay, so what’s first Alec?” Jace asked. Alec instructed them and helped screw the pieces together. He made sure everything looked exactly as it did in the example. Once the bed frame was made, the four boys grabbed Jace’s mattress and lifted it onto the bed. 

 

“Sherlock and I will do the bedsheets. Alexander and Blondie can do the desk.” Magnus suggested. Alec nodded in agreement. 

 

“Simon.” Simon corrected at the same time as Jace who said, “Jace.” Magnus only laughed and waved a dismissing hand. But, regardless of the name thing, all were in agreement. Jace and Alec started up on the desk. They built it as if it were second nature. They had no trouble placing the pieces together, they worked well together. Simon and Magnus found Jace’s bedsheets and covers. 

 

“I have to say, Blondie has great taste.” Magnus said. 

 

“Thanks, Sparkles.” Jace shot. Magnus beamed at him. Unfortunately for Jace, Magnus loved bering called Sparkles, so jokes on him. 

 

Alec and Jace were finished the desk in a matter of minutes. Simon and Magnus were still pushing the pillows into the pillow covers.

 

“Simon and I can take it from here. You and Magnus can go start your room. We’ll be there in a couple minutes.” Jace said to Alec, who was across the room now because Jace had went to his bed to help with the bedsheets. Alec nodded and began walking out of the room. 

 

“Alec!” Jace yelled. Alec turned back and Jace was throwing the keys at Alec to open the boxes. It was not a throw that Alec could catch, it was just about to hit Alec’s face, Alec knew he could do nothing about it. Then, right as it was about to hit Alec’s face, Magnus’ hand swooped in and fisted his hand as the key landed right in his palm. 

 

“T-thanks.” Alec spit out. Magnus beamed at him. 

 

“It was my pleasure, Alexander.” Magnus said, and started walking out of the room. Once Alec was snapped back into reality, he quickly caught up to Magnus. 

 

“You also have 4 boxes.” Magnus noted. 

 

“Bed?” Alec asked. 

 

“You’d have to take me to dinner first.” Magnus said. Alec realized he walked right into that one. Alec turned a bright red, and Magnus chuckled. He placed his hand on Alec’s shoulder. He went to grab the bed. As he reached a side, he looked over at Alec.

 

“Alexander, as much as I would like to, I can’t lift this by myself.” Magnus said. 

 

“R-right.” Alec shook his head and walked over to grab the other side. Alec’s bed was about the same weight as Jace’s. It was bearable. Alec and Magnus walked up the stairs, much easier. As they kept doing this it was much easier for them. Alec and Magnus walked all the way upstairs. They placed the bed down and without missing a beat, they walked to get the desk. In that amount of time when Alec and Magnus arrived back with the desk, Jace and Simon had come back to help. 

 

“Boxes, downstairs.” Alec instructed. Jace and Simon knew exactly what Alec meant and went downstairs to get the boxes. 

 

Alec and Magnus opened the boxes of the bed and the desk. “Divide and conquer. We’ll get more done.” Alec suggested. 

 

“Lewis, you’re with me.” Jace said, “We’re doing the bed.”

 

Alec nodded and looked over at Magnus, “You’re good with doing the desk?” Alec asked. Magnus hummed in agreement and Alec walked over. Alec and Magnus read over the instructions together. Alec and Magnus worked together to build the desk. Alec had purchased a simple desk. It was quite simple to make. His bed also did not look difficult to make. Izzy’s was a nightmare. Alec liked living a simple life, Magnus respected that. In face, he admired it. He had so much and he does not use it at all. Alec and Magnus finished attaching the legs to the table and finished it off. Alec decided to put the desk in front of his window. They moved the desk where Alec wanted it and went off to offer assistance Jace and Simon with the bed. 

 

Jace and Simon were about done. They just had to move the mattress onto the frame. Alec and Magnus were happy to help with that. Once they moved the mattress, Jace and Simon did Alec’s bedsheets and covers. Alec decided it was his obligation to feed their friends. They had come out to help them, and had not eaten anything since lunch. It had been almost three hours. 

 

Alec grabbed the phone and ordered from the Chinese place nearby. Once Jace and Simon were done, they joined Alec and Magnus. “I’m ordering food, anything anyone wants?” Alec asked. 

 

“What food?” Jace asked. 

 

“Chinese.” Alec answered. 

 

“I want egg rolls.” Jace answered. Alec nodded and smiled. He knew he’d have to order extra egg rolls. Everyone attacked on them.

 

“Simon? Magnus?” Alec asked. 

 

“I’m good with whatever.” Magnus answered. 

 

“Whatever you want, dude.” Simon answered.

 

Alec ordered all of the food and then everyone just lounged in the living room. Raphael and Izzy had finally come down. Isabelle looking pleased with herself and Raphael looking as he always did. Alec did not know what to call that expression. It was between annoyed and emotionless. Alec gave up trying, after just two days of knowing him. 

 

“We ordered food.” Jace told Izzy. 

 

“At least I’m not working for free.” Raphael said. 

 

“We were helping our friends, babe.” Simon said, pulling Raphael towards him. 

 

Raphael fell and tangled down with Simon. Magnus and Alec were sitting next to them. “Wanna watch a movie?” Alec asked, trying to cut the tension. 

 

Izzy pointed her finger up and was about to open her mouth up to say something, when Alec and Jace exclaimed “No,” in unison. They knew Izzy was going to suggest one of her corny chick flicks that Alec and Jace had to suffer through.

 

“How about Ant Man and the Wasp?” Simon suggested. 

 

“Marvel nerd?” Jace asked Simon, cocking an eyebrow. 

 

“Proud of it.” Simon answered, a triumphant smile on his face. 

 

“Finally, someone with good taste!” Jace exclaimed. Simon laughed, almost in relief. He completely thought that Jace was going to make fun of him. 

 

Magnus and Alec were sitting next to each other. Alec was trying to control himself from doing anything stupid. Magnus kept glancing at Alec from the corner of his eye. This movie was going to be difficult to sit through. Alec was staring at Magnus, but whenever Alec noticed that Magnus was looking at him from the corner of his eye, Alec averted his gaze. Magnus could feel Alec staring at him. It was not uncomfortable, it was…. _cute._

 

Magnus found that endearing that Alec was staring at him instead of actually talking to him. He was nervous around Magnus! That was a hopeful sign for Magnus. Maybe Alec reciprocated his feelings. Magnus did not get his hopes up. He was not going to be let down again. Maybe Alec was just a rebound from Camille. What if what Magnus felt for Alec was purely attraction, and nothing else? It probably was. Magnus was still completely torn by Camille. She had hurt him in ways no one has. She fiddled with his heart and when she was bored, she ripped it out of Magnus’ chest. Magnus was so completely deprived of all sense when he was with her, that he didn’t realize what she was doing. Alec did not deserve to have his heart torn apart. He was much too valuable to this world and to too many people. Magnus was convinced that these feelings for Alec were completely because he needed a rebound. He was not going to hurt Alec the way Camille had hurt Magnus. No one deserved that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you all have an amazing day! <33 
> 
> sorry this chapter was a little shorter than the ones before! i was having a case of writer's block. but, i'm good now and fully inspired! i'll see you guys next chapter which will hopefully be soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basketball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii!! i just wanted to thank you guys for the continued support on this story, it means the absolute world to me. i hope you enjoy this chapter, heavy malec content in the beginning! 
> 
> also, all mistakes are mine!! forgive me for them! also, i dont wanna write anything that will offend anyone, so if i do at all, please tell me about it, so i can fix it immediately! 
> 
> enjoy!!

“Finally!” Jace yelled, jumping off the sofa and dashing to the door. The doorbell had rung and it would be an understatement to say that Jace, Alec, Magnus, Izzy, Simon and Raphael were starving. Jace paid the deliverer and walked back with bags of takeout. 

 

“Who’s ready to eat?” Jace asked. No one answered, everyone just got up and snatched a take box from the bags in Jace’s hands. Jace was left with his jaw wide open.

 

“You guys took all the food!” Jace whined. 

 

“There’s like 4 more boxes in there.” Alec said. Jace exaggeratedly sighed and slouched back to the sofa, holding a pair of chopsticks and a takeout box in his hands. Once they all were back in their spots, they resumed their movie. In the end, everyone had chosen to watch Ant Man and the Wasp.

 

Alec had the beef lo mein and Magnus had seafood chow mein. Alec was not a huge fan of the beef lo mein. Something about beef always disgusted him. He took the first takeout box he saw, so he did not have time to see what was actually in it.

 

“What did you get?” Alec whispered to Magnus, whisking his chop sticks in his noddles. 

 

Magnus turned to face him and said, “Seafood chow mein, how about you?” 

 

“Beef lo mein.” Alec answered. 

 

“Wanna switch?” Magnus asked, noticing Alec’s face of disgust looking at his food. Magnus decided he would save Alec the pain. He liked beef lo mein. Also, Alec was eyeing his chow mein wistfully. Alec and Magnus swapped their takeout boxes and Alec had a grin on his face when he slurped the noddles.

 

When the movie was over, Raphael and Simon were the first to leave. Well, Raphael was the first to leave. He was already out the door before the end credits even rolled. Simon had to pull him back so Simon could say goodbye properly. 

 

“Bye guys!” Simon said, after thanking Jace, Izzy and Alec for having them and for the food. Alec thanked him back for all his help and Izzy thanked Raphael. Raphael gave her a firm nod.

 

Alec shut the door behind him and saw that Jace and Izzy had vanished. Probably into their new rooms. 

 

“I should go as well.” Magnus said. Alec’s face dropped. He didn’t want Magnus to leave. 

 

Alec, could not force him to stay, but he could drive him home, giving him more time with Magnus. “I’ll drop you home.” Alec said, grabbing the keys, for what felt like the fiftieth time today. 

 

“No need, I can ask Raphael, or take the bus.” Magnus smiled, shrugging on his backpack. 

 

“No!” Alec exclaimed, more passionately than he would have liked. “I insist. You were my guest and you helped me build furniture. It’s the least I can do.” Alec said, calmly now. Magnus nodded, seeing that Alec’s points had reasoning. Also, who was he to object to more time with Alec?

 

“Let me say goodbye to your siblings.” Magnus said. Alec nodded in agreement and Magnus walked upstairs. He came back fairly quickly. 

 

“Ready?” Alec asked, jangling the keys. Magnus nodded eagerly. Alec held the door open for Magnus and Alec yelled, “Jace! Izzy! I’m dropping Magnus home! I’ll be back soon!” 

 

“Okay!” Alec heard Izzy yell. 

 

“Wait!” Alec heard Jace yell. _Wait?_ Why? Magnus stood there as perplexed as Alec. Alec stood where he was and heard brisk movements down the stairs. When Jace was finally within sight of Alec, he bent and grabbed his knees, holding up a finger, trying to catch his breath. Once he was done panting and his breath returned to normal. 

 

“You up for basketball when you come back?” Jace asked. That was what Jace wanted to ask? Alec nodded and waved goodbye to Jace who gleamed at him. Magnus left the door and Alec shut the door behind him, Magnus walking ahead. Alec stopped for a couple seconds to lock the door. He did to trust Izzy and Jace home alone, they most likely had their earbuds in and were oblivious to whatever happening in front of them. 

 

Alec caught up with Magnus at the elevator. Alec and Magnus stood in silence. Magnus raking back and forth on his heels and toes. His movements were so graceful, almost as if he were a dancer. 

 

“You dance?” Alec asked, abruptly. The elevator had arrived at this point and the two of them stepped inside. 

 

“I do, how do you know?” Magnus asked, pressing the _Garage_ button on the elevator. 

 

“As you would say, lucky guess.” Alec said. Magnus was in a state of aghast. Was Alec flirting with him? Had he finally caught on? Magnus wished not to overwhelm Alec by reciprocating the flirting, so, he changed the topic. 

 

“I dance, and you play basketball?” Magnus phrased that last part in the form of a question. 

 

Alec chuckled and looked up, squinting at the beam of light hitting right in his eyes. “I do, yeah, with Jace.” 

 

“Going to try out for the team?” Magnus asked. 

 

“No.” Alec deadpanned. The elevator door opened and the two boys stepped out. Alec and Magnus walked over to the car in silence. Alec figured he should probably explain why he does not want to join the basketball team, but that would mean telling Magnus practically his entire life story. When Alec and Magnus reached the car, which was not right away, their car was still parked much further than Alec would have liked. Why, oh why, did their parents get such a difficult parking spot? 

 

Once he and Magnus had both stepped into the car and were in their seats, Alec took a deep breath. Once he exhaled, which was quite loud, Magnus looked over. Alec started the car, looking at the road and reversed the car to get it out of the parking spot. Alec shifted gears and moved the car into drive. Alec whisked through the parking lot and entered the road. 

 

“Jace had always encouraged me to try out.” Alec said. 

 

“Hm?” Magnus asked, confused as to what Alec was talking about. 

 

“Basketball,” Alec said. Magnus nodded, “he always wanted us to play together on the team. He said there was glory, popularity, love, support, everything. But, he always said that none of that meant anything to him if I was not on the court with him, sharing that applause. Jace and I played basketball as kids when we were younger. His biological father played with him, and that was what he made his passion into, when they passed away. As a way to honour them. He fell in love with the game, and when he came to live with us, he and I became best friends, still are. We did everything together, and everything included basketball. It was the one game that really got Jace going. He was so happy playing it. You could see the sheer happiness in not only his smile, but his eyes. They gleamed. Then, high school rolled around. Jace wanted to join the basketball team. In middle school, he always beat everyone, there was no real competition. When he came to high school, he would not shut up about being on the basketball team. I used to play with him, and he always had the idealism that he and I would win together, we’d try out together. But, I always said no.” Alec said, he was now getting into his story. He gulped. 

 

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Magnus said in a soothing and sultry voice. 

 

Alec shook his head, “I want to tell you. I never told anyone, not even Jace, but he always just knew. It was never something I had to tell him. He knew me like that. Sometimes it eats at me. It’s more for me that I’m going to tell you.” Alec rambled on. Magnus grabbed onto Alec’s hand on the gear. Alec felt a wave of relief shower over him when Magnus placed his hand on his.

 

Alec gulped and started talking again, “Well, I’m gay.” Alec said, it had been the first time he had ever said those words to anyone who was not his sibling. It was more challenging than he expected, but he also felt a weight lift off of his shoulder when he said it. Magnus had a minimal reaction. His features softened when Alec had told him, flattered that Alec trusted him to tell this to him. “In basketball, there’s a locker room and I guess I’m just afraid that the guys won’t accept me when I tell them or if my secret gets out. They’ll treat me different and won’t be comfortable around me anymore. I just don’t want it to be a big thing and I’m afraid if they find out, it’s going to be.” Alec said, voice softer.

 

“Oh, Alexander.” Magnus comforted. “I’m not condoning that you live in secret. But you need to do things for the sake of yourself. If you want to play basketball, if it makes you happy, nothing should stop you, especially the fact that you’re gay. Those players, I’ve known them for years, they just want to win and if you’re good and you win, the won’t care even if you tell them you’re an alien from Mars. If they do, they can answer to me, and I know that brother of yours won’t let them get away with saying things like that to you. He would do anything for you, just like you would do anything for him.” Magnus ended off on a much more positive note, Alec chuckled. 

 

“Thank you.” Alec said, most probably the most genuine thank you he had ever said to anyone. After what Magnus said, he had confidence. He gave him the push, something Alec knew Jace wanted to do, but never did, he knew Alec loved his space. Jace and Izzy made Alec feel safe, but Magnus made Alec feel adventurous. He gave him courage. He gave him the strength and push Alec didn’t know he needed. Now, he knew he needed it, and he would be damned if he ever let that go with Magnus. So, he decided to not make a move. He couldn’t risk losing this nurturing friendship he was creating with Magnus. What would happen if they were a flame and they blew out? Alec would lose Magnus forever, and even if they tried, things could never go back to the way they were. Alec left it alone and showed Magnus a smile. 

 

Magnus could not help but return such a sincere and beautiful smile. He gave Alec the biggest grin he could manage. That was a heavy on the heart conversation. Magnus thought to change the topic to lighten the mood. Magnus also realized his hand was still on Alec’s. Alec had not done anything that opposed of it, Magnus decided to let it go. He slid his hand of Alec’s lighting sliding his fingers off. Alec felt a sense of incompletion when Magnus removed his hand. He missed it already. He was not one to say anything though. Alec knew Magnus thought of him as a friend and nothing more. Alec did not want his feelings to get in the way of this. This was already important to him. He trusted Magnus with his secret and he knew Magnus would not tell anyone, but Alec did not want to scare Magnus off. Alec kept it to himself and kept driving. 

 

“You miss LA?” Magnus asked. 

 

The tips of Alec’s lips quivered upwards. “Yeah, New York isn’t so bad either.” Alec said. 

 

“I’ve always wanted to go to LA.” Magnus said. 

 

“It’s not as glamorous as everyone says it is.” Alec rolled his eyes. 

 

“Neither is New York, dear.” Magnus said. 

 

“It definitely beats LA.” Alec said, and meant it. 

 

“I’m sure it does.” Magnus said, confident. 

 

“Tell me something about yourself, anything. Doesn’t have to be deep. I feel like I know nothing about you.” Alec said, biting his bottom lip. 

 

“Well, I’m Indonesian.” Magnus said. 

 

“I’ve heard Indonesia is a beautiful country.” Alec said. 

 

“It is.” Magnus said. 

 

“You’ve been?” Alec asked. 

 

“I used to live there.” Magnus said. 

 

“For how long?” Alec asked. 

 

“The first 6 years of my life.” Magnus said. 

 

“Then you moved here?” Alec asked. 

 

“Not exactly,” Magnus said, Alec looked unfazed. “I lived in London for 6 months.” 

 

“You’ve been to more places in the first 7 years of your life than I have in all 17 of mine.” Alec said. 

 

“Getting thrown around the foster system has it’s perks.” Magnus said. 

 

“Foster system?” Alec asked, “Wait, you don’t have to answer that.” 

 

“No big deal, darling,” Magnus reassured, “My parents died in a car crash when I was 6.” Magnus said. 

 

“Oh, Magnus.” Alec said, his voice smooth and benevolent. 

 

“It gets easier with time, I guess.” Magnus said, “But, I was fostered a couple times in London, then one fo my foster families moved to New York from London, so I ended up here. Foster families aren’t as great as they seem. They were biphobic and against me being bisexual. I had found out I liked boys and girls at a fairly young age. So, I guess coming out was something I did from when I was really young. Once I trusted them enough to tell them, they inevitably disowned me. I was never one to be hidden. I was proud of who I am, I still am proud. I don’t like hiding. People used to tell me that I should hide it from them until they adopt me. I never liked that, if I wanted a family, I wanted one that was accepting of all of me. So, I never got around to being adopted. Until Luke. Luke had just lost Jocelyn, his wife, and Clary’s mother. He decided instead of mourning he was going to foster a child and give it all the love he had. I thank the angel everyday that I was put in with Luke. He accepted me, Clary and I became quick friends, and she welcomed me with open arms. Luke saved me, he put up with my shenanigans and I have never been luckier to be with such a loving father and a great sister. I remember the day Luke told me he was going to adopt me. It was one of the best days of my life.” Magnus said. He noticed Alec had been listening attentively. He was actually cared about what Magnus was saying. 

 

“What happened the day Luke told you.” Alec asked. 

 

“I was 11. I had been living with Luke and Clary for about coming up to a year. I was playing with Raphael. We were at the park. Clary and Simon were with us too. Clary and I arrived home, a little later than Luke had told us to. We knew we were in for a scolding. Clary and I braced ourselves, but I saw a familiar car outside my house. It was my social worker. I only saw her when she was going to transfer me to a different house. I never liked when she came, it always had bad memories. When I walked in, I saw Luke talking to her and they looked pretty deep in conversation. I was terrified. I didn’t want to leave, it was the last thing I had wanted to do. I thought Luke had loved me. I yelled, ‘I don’t wanna go,’ and ran upstairs, tears streaming down my face. Alexander, I was so scared. I felt my world crumbling down. I slammed my door shut and buried myself in my covers, crying. Clary was confused, she had lived with Luke her entire life. She came up to me and hugged me. She stayed there, comforting me, even though she was younger. I felt so unlovable. Like I was a burden and an abomination. Luke came upstairs shortly after. I was so angry at him, but, I knew I didn’t want to live anywhere else. I escaped my covers and hugged his leg, begging him to let me stay. He pulled me off his leg and placed me on my bed. He bent down to reach my eye level, and hugged me. He said, ‘Magnus, I would never let you go. So, I’ve decided to keep you forever. That’s if you want.” I thought I hadn’t heard right and wasn’t understanding what he was saying. I asked him if he wanted to adopt me. He smiled brightly and nodded his head. I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears. I hugged him tight and said, ‘I wanna be adopted, more than anything,’ and he said, ‘Good, because I wanna adopt you more than anything. I love you, Magnus. I could never let you go, I promise.’ I was so happy. Clary joined our hug too. We would be a family. It was everything I had ever wanted. A family, one who loved me.” Magnus said, Alec could see the tears starting to fall from his face. Alec knew they were tears of joy. Not the same tears he had cried when he saw his social worker, but the complete opposite. 

 

“I’m glad you have Luke.” Alec said. 

 

“He’s the best.” Magnus confirmed. 

 

“I can see that.” Alec said. 

 

“I was trying for something lighthearted and here we are, having our second heart to heart of the hour.” Magnus said. 

 

“I certainly don’t mind.” Alec said. 

 

“Well, what else would you like to know, Mr. Lightwood?” Magnus asked. 

 

“For now, where your address is, we’re at the bookshop.” Alec said, pulling up in front of the bookshop. 

 

“Luke lives in the building above. Here is fine. Thank you, Alexander.” Magnus said. 

 

“No problem,” Alec blushed, “want me to come up with you?” 

 

“I’m not 2, Alexander. I’m quite sure I can manage.” Magnus said. 

 

“Alright, good night.” Alec said. 

 

“Goodnight.” Magnus said. As Alec was rolling the windows up, Alec heard Magnus’ voice again, “Alexander!” 

 

Alec rolled the window down, “Yes, Magnus?” Alec answered. 

 

“Drive safely and text me when you get home.” Magnus said. 

 

“Will do, goodnight.” Alec nodded. 

 

“Goodnight, Alexander.” Magnus said, waving. Alec drove off and Magnus walked up the stairs. 

 

Alec drove in silence. He played his music, refusing to listen to radio trash. He was happy with his Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, thank you very much. Alec listened to his music, bobbing his head, enjoying taking a ride for himself. Although he was more than enjoying his alone time, he missed Magnus’ company. He was a great listener. For a person like Alec, who does not at all warm up to anyone quickly, Magnus had grown on him greatly. 

 

Alec reversed parked into his parking spots that his parents had reserved for him. Alec pulled the keys out and whistled his way upstairs. Spending time with Magnus had put him in a better mood. Alec decided to call it a night by pulling out a book to read. He saw the book on his new desk, ‘The Great Gatsby’ he smiled, thinking of Magnus. He opened the book, revealing Magnus’ graceful handwriting and his phone number. Magnus’ phone number! That’s right, Alec had to text Magnus. He knew Magnus would be worried. 

 

_I am home, and all in one piece. Texted you as per your request._ Alec pressed send, not at all expecting a reply. But, he sure was glad he got one. 

 

_Good to know. Thank you for letting me know and now I have to get back to this disgusting homework. Goodnight._ Alec read the message and was also reminded of his unfinished homework. He had never gotten around to it. Alec blames the furniture. But, he isn’t risking his parents’ wrath because he had gotten lazy. Alec was determined to finish his homework before going to bed. 

 

Alec pulled his backpack and sat down in his new chair, that came with the desk. Alec was never one for spending too much money. Alec saw what he needed, he picked out the cheapest, yet most effective one and called it a day. He had a minimal care for ‘aesthetics’ or whatever teenagers liked to call pretty things these days. Alec opened the mouth of his backpack and pulled out his binders. His elbows rested on the table and his face buried in his hands. He is not at all in the mood for this. He cannot do this right now. He is just done. He removes his hands from his face and takes out his notepad. He needs to write. That’s what will help. So, when his pen hits that paper, it does stop. His hand is flowing and he is writing all of his feelings. He needs to empty his brain before he can even remotely begin to start piling it up with useless information again. 

 

Once Alec’s brain is undoubtedly empty. All of his ideas are now on paper, he looks at his school work. He wants to throw up. Can he call in sick already? Alec decides to drink a glass of water and suck it up. He has to do this. Alec cracks his knuckles, with the full intent to start his schoolwork. He opens up his Biology textbook and answers the questions vaguely. He simply answers the question, not bothering to explain further how he got the answer and why it is what it is. He quickly half-asses his Biology homework. Next was Law. Ew. He opened his book and his head starting hurting. As much as he wanted to like Law, he just could not. He wanted to rip his book in half and scream every time he was in class. He quickly studied over the page, skimmed through the paragraphs, got a general understanding of the content. He quickly wrote down a couple notes, making it look as if he had done at least some work. He wrapped it up as quick as possible. Their Chemistry teacher gave him mercy and let him off without homework. Alec opened his English book. He cracked a smile. Something he liked doing. He finished the assigned reading and answered the questions to the bets of his physical and mental ability. Usually, his answers were more deep and long, but right now, as much as Alec loved Fahrenheit 451, he was exhausted. 

 

Alec wrapped up his homework and shoved his papers back into his backpack, not caring if they were crumpled or proper. What mattered was that they were finished, right? Alec coveted for a fantastic book to get lost in, but, as soon as he reached his bed, he completely blacked out. 

 

—

 

Alec’s alarm blared through his ear right into his brain and nerves in the morning. Despite his hours of sleep, he was not feeling any less weary from yesterday. He rubbed his eyes and decided what he needed was a cold shower, ignoring his want for a warm shower. He needed to wake up. As soon as that cold water pounded onto Alec’s back, he was unmistakably awake. His eyes darted open, and he quite frankly, felt refreshed. 

 

He slipped into comfier clothes than he was in the night before. He had, unfortunately fallen asleep in his skinny jeans and sweater. He was not about to wear jeans again. He loved them, but he was not in the mood to make even the slightest of efforts. Alec decided on his pair of baggy, grey Adidas sweatpants and a loose black shirt. 

 

Once he was ready, he was not about to take anyone’s shit this morning. Especially Jace and Izzy’s. Waking them up was a daily chore and pain. Alec opened the door, did not even bother using his voice to awaken Isabelle, she was the more difficult of the two. 

 

He ripped her covers off, causing her almost naked body to be exposed to the cool air. Her velvet shorts and cami were not going to keep her warm in the New York winter, that was for sure. LA had the most mild of mild winters. New York was more brutal than that. 

 

“Alec!” Izzy hissed. 

 

“Get up.” Alec groaned. 

 

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Izzy teased. 

 

“Not now, Izzy.” Alec hissed, scowling. 

 

“Fine.” Isabelle backed off. Alec nodded and left her room. Alec opened up Jace’s room, too lazy to come up with a new tactic to awaken him. He ripped his covers off, same as he did with Isabelle’s. His body was entirely naked, except for his boxers. Alec could see the goosebumps arise on his skin.

 

“Alec, what the hell?” Jace yelled. 

 

“Shut up, get up, we have school.” Alec said, pushing him off the bed. 

 

“Jeez, Alec. Cool it.” Jace said, walking into the washroom. Alec walked downstairs. He grabbed an apple, and decided to fix himself a sandwich. He was not going to get into the habit of eating cafeteria food. His abs would not appreciate it. He decided to make up for being so cruel and cranky this morning, Alec would make Jace and Izzy a sandwich too. 

 

Jace and Izzy practically crawled down the stairs. “I’m exhausted.” Izzy said, sitting at the table after grabbing a container of strawberry yogurt. 

 

Jace grabbed his usual protein shake from the fridge that he makes every night before bed. Isabelle and Jace really did look exhausted. Jace decided to somewhat twin with Alec. He wore a pair of baggy Nike sweats and a grey t-shirt. Izzy needed any and every excuse to look fabulous. Hell, he she even got in full glam when they were moving to New York, over 40 hours in an RV. But, she refused to go looking ordinary. But, today, Izzy wore her hair in French braid, a black cropped crewneck sweater and a pair of high waisted leggings. Her lips were her natural colour, but she had her liner winged and her eyelashes coated in several coats of mascara. Even when she was not trying, Isabelle had everyone shaking in the corner. She was a force to be reckon with. Her not trying was completely gorgeous. She was always gorgeous. 

 

Alec forced a smile, sliding into the seat in front of Izzy and beside Jace. “Sorry for being so cranky.” Alec apologized, sliding their usual lunch boxes to Izzy and Jace. 

 

“You made lunch?” Jace asked, in disbelief. 

 

“I felt bad for being mean.” Alec said. 

 

“Guilt looks good on you, big brother.” Izzy winked. 

 

“Remind me when I feel guilty, I should never act on it.” Alec said, shaking his head. 

 

“Hey, Alec.” Jace asked. 

 

“Hmm?” Alec hummed in answer. 

 

“You okay?” Jace asked. 

 

“Fine, why?” Alec asked. 

 

“I came to your room after I was done my homework to see if you were still up for basketball, but you laid on your bed like a corpse.” Jace said. 

 

“Just a little tired.” Alec said. 

 

“Okay, that’s it?” Jace asked, arching an eyebrow. 

 

Alec nodded. Jace clapped his shoulder twice and walked off. Isabelle had already left the house. They were about to be late for school. Alec had some news for his siblings. He knew Jace and Izzy both would support him unconditionally. He was going to join the basketball team. Alec was not looking for popularity at all, he just wanted to play the game he grew to love. 

 

As Jace and Izzy settled into the car along with Alec, before Alec started the car he took a deep breath, catching the attention of Jace and Izzy. 

 

“You okay?” Izzy asked, leaning forward to get a better look at Alec. 

 

“I’m going to join the basketball team.” Alec said. Jace and Izzy waited for minute to react. Their jaws were left hanging open and Alec just laughed. Did they have that little faith in their brother? 

 

“Your reactions tell me it’s a bad idea.” Alec joked. Izzy and Jace snapped out of their state of disbelief in a second. 

 

“No!” Izzy said. 

 

“I can’t wait to rule the court with you, brother.” Jace said. 

 

“It’s all we’ve ever wanted.” Alec said. 

 

“We’ve?” Jace asked, he always thought it was a one sided belief. 

 

“We’ve.” Alec confirmed, with a clipped nod. Jace felt as if he could explode with happiness. 

 

“I’m so happy for you! Maybe I should join cheerleading to cheer on my brothers!” Izzy recommended. 

 

Alec and Jace both knew that was an awful idea. Izzy was their sister and she loved them, she never really got along with cheerleaders in past experiences. 

 

“I’m kidding!” Izzy exclaimed, hitting Alec on the shoulder when she saw the facial resemblance of ‘yikes’ on both, Jace and Alec’s faces. 

 

“Besides, I’d rather cheer for only you guys. Those other guys won’t know what hit them when the Lightwood’s take over!” Izzy cheered. 

 

“Hell yeah!” Jace hyped, high fiving Alec. 

 

Alec looked at the time on their car, “Look, you guys know I love you and we’re having a moment, but like we need to get to school, can we continue this when we get home?” Alec asked. 

 

“To be continued.” Isabelle said, smacking her back on the seat. 

 

“I’m talking to Coach today, you coming with?” Jace asked. 

 

“You know it, brother.” Alec confirmed. 

 

“What changed?” Jace asked. 

 

“I was enlightened on another point of view.” Alec said, blushing a bright crimson. 

 

“I’m glad.” Jace said, smiling at him. 

 

“When are you going?” Alec asked. 

 

“After school.” Jace said. 

 

“I’ll meet you in front of the gym, go in together?” Alec asked. 

 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jace said. 

 

—

 

Once Alec was at school, he found Magnus in the front yard, scrolling through his phone. Alec fund himself….. _nervous,_ to go talk to his new friend. Come on, Alec, it’s only Magnus! Alec told himself. But, that was it, it was Magnus. It never could be _just Magnus._ Magnus is magical. Alec walked up to him, smile on his face.

 

“Hey.” Alec said. 

 

“Alexander! Good Morning!” Magnus chirped. His smile grew when he saw Alec. 

 

“Did you get done that homework you were dreading so much?” Alec asked. 

 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Magnus said. Alec chuckled. 

 

“I should actually thank you.” Alec said. 

 

“Me? Why?” Magnus asked. 

 

“When you told me you were doing homework, I forgot I had some too. So, thanks to you, I will not be getting yelled at today.” Alec said. 

 

“You’re finding yourself deeper in debt with me, Alexander.” Magnus teased. 

 

“Well I guess I’ll just have to figure out a way to pay you back.” Alec said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 

“Don’t be silly, it’s what friends do.” Magnus said, casually. 

 

“Friends?” Alec asked, confused. Were he and Magnus friends? 

 

“I’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Yeah,” Alec said, looking at the floor, “but I’ll find a way to make it up to you.” 

 

“I told you, there’s no need.” Magnus chuckled. 

 

“There isn’t. But, I want to.” Alec said, firmly. 

 

“I guess there’s no use arguing with a Lightwood.” Magnus said, “You’re parents especially.” 

 

“You know my parents?” Alec asked. 

 

“No, Luke did. They went to school together, apparently. Both your Mom and Dad.” Magnus said. 

 

“Wow, I didn’t know Mom and Dad lived in New York.” Alec said. 

 

“There are a lot of things you don’t know, Alexander.” Magnus said, coyly. Before Alec could say anything else, the bell had rang and Magnus dashed off to class. Alec ran to class himself. 

 

Alec took a mini nap and had Simon cover for him. Alec was slowly learning that he and Simon were alike in more ways than one, they both liked boys. Alec saw the way Simon teated Clary. It was like Isabelle and Alec. Alec liked Simon since he saw him, but now he was certain that he and Simon would end up great friends. 

 

Due to his power nap during Biology, Alec was now awake and alive in English. His focus was in overdrive and he was not at all tired. English lasted only about one minute, until lunch came around. As much as Alec loved English, he loved lunch. More like he loved talking to Magnus. He was going to tell Magnus about the basketball thing. 

 

“Alec!” Magnus called over to Alec, who was on the other side of the cafeteria. He was quite simple to spot due to his unusual height. Magnus liked it though, he wanted to climb Alec like a tree. 

 

“Magnus clearly is obsessed with Alec.” Catarina said. 

 

“Am not!” Magnus whined. 

 

“She’s right. When he came home after Alec’s house yesterday, he was swooning over Alec for what felt like hours.” Clary said. 

 

“After he obsessed about Alec to you, he came to me.” Catarina noted. 

 

“You’ve known him for all of two days and you’re this obsessed. You weren’t even this bad with Camille.” Ragnor said. 

 

“Who?” Magnus asked. They all laughed. Magnus saw that Alec’s sister had been with Camille. They seemed like friends. Well, more like Camille had found a new victim. It had to be Isabelle Lightwood. She seemed to have deemed power over Isabelle and was basically controlling her. Magnus had heard Camille commenting about Isabells’ clothes today. Magnus had no idea why, Isabelle looked better not trying than anyone ever could, trying their hardest. She was naturally gorgeous. So was her brother. Magnus had wanted to talk to Alec about it, but, after all, it was not his place at all. 

 

“Hey.” Alec said, sliding to the corner of the table, sitting in front of Magnus. 

 

“Hello, Alexander.” Magnus greeted warmly. Alec blushed and smiled. His blush was gorgeous. Alec had no idea why was blushing. Magnus had only said hello. Alec hid his face with his arms and his shaggy hair. 

 

“Your hair is so long.” Magnus noted. 

 

“I like my hair.” Alec argued. 

 

“I never said I didn’t like it either.” Magnus teased. He should have laid off on the flirting, Alec’s blush rose up all the way again, a more dark red this time. 

 

“Oh, I have something to tell you.” Alec said, wanting desperately to change the subject.

 

“I’m listening.” Magnus said. 

 

“I decided to join basketball.” Alec said. 

 

“Really?” Magnus squealed. 

 

Alec nodded, a smiling creeping on his face. “Yeah. Someone changed my mind yesterday.” 

 

“I wonder who that is.” Magnus teased. 

 

“I’m so happy for you, Alexander. They will be incredibly lucky to have you.” Magnus said. 

 

“Thank you, Magnus.” Alec said, “Jace and I are going to talk to Coach today after school.”

 

“There’s no way he can refuse you and Blondie.” Magnus said. 

 

“Yeah.” Alec chuckled. 

 

—

 

After Chemistry, Alec had rushed to his dreadful locker after saying goodbye to Magnus. Magnus had wished him good luck and Alec stood there, dumbstruck. Alec was caught in the middle of the traffic. This puts Time’s Square to shame. Alec grabbed his materials and ran down, trying to squeeze his way through the rush. 

 

Alec finally arrived at the gym, to see Jace and Izzy leaning against the wall outside. 

 

“Finally!” Jace exclaimed. 

 

“Sorry, third floor lockers suck.” Alec said, readjusting his backpack strap, “Why is Izzy here?” Alec asked. 

 

“Because, brother mine, I cannot leave without you two.” Izzy said. Alec realized she could not leave with the car alone, because he and Jace would be stranded. 

 

“Right.” Alec seethed. Jace opened the gym door and held it open for Alec and Izzy to walk into. Izzy walked in and Alec followed. Jace let go of the door and jogged to catch up to Alec. 

 

Izzy grabbed a seat on a bench and the two Lightwood brothers went to find Coach. Alec and Jace walked to the bench Coach Lovelace was on. They dodged the basketball team running around and throwing the ball. Jace was not ready to hurt his pretty face. 

 

“Coach, my brother and I would like to try out for the team.” Jace said, slinging his arm across Alec’s shoulder. 

 

“I’m sorry boys, try outs are over.” Coach said. 

 

“We just moved here.” Alec countered. He felt a rush inside him, an urge to win. That was what he needed. 

 

“Well then,” Coach said, getting up. He walked out of sigh, leaving Jace and Alec questioning what they were doing. “show me what you can do.” Coach said, chucking a ball to Jace. 

 

“Who do you want us to play?” Alec asked. 

 

“Them.” Coach pointed to the team. 

 

“All of them?” Alec asked. 

 

Coach nodded and said, “All of them.” Alec was struck. All of them? The best players on their school team, of Brooklyn, where basketball was played on every street. Alec took into account the pros and cons. But, then he gave up on those, he decided he was going to do this and he was, no matter what. He and Jace could take on that entire team, maybe. 

 

Jace looked at Alec who nodded. Jace gave him a knowing smirk and said, “We’ll do it.” 

 

Coach smiled. That was what he was looking for. Boys with no fear, who were willing to do whatever the hell it took to win and get what they want. That answer was all Coach needed to get to accept Alec and Jace onto the team. 

 

“You made it.” Coach said to them. Alec and Jace were muddled. They had been under the impression that they were going to take on the team.

 

“You both showed me you will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means you will take on an entire team between the two of you. You both looked confident and goddamn sure of yourselves too. I need guys with guts like yours on my team. So, welcome to the team.” Coach said, patting Alec and Jace on the back. 

 

Alec and Jace gave each other a fist bump of victory. Jace and Alec could not wipe the smiles off of their faces. They did it! They were going to be on the basketball team, together! Jace had been avidly dreaming of this. He knew he and Alec would dominate the court. 

 

“Leave your jersey numbers and last names on the clipboard that’s on the bench. Be at practice tomorrow, after school.” Coach said. Jace and Alec did not hesitate to follow orders. 

 

Alec placed his jersey number, _81_ and his name _Lightwood._

 

Alec tossed the clipboard and pen to Jace who placed his jersey number, _99_ and when it came to his last name, he bit on the pen. His other schools simply had their numbers, no names. Alec knew exactly what Jace was thinking. He was thinking about his last name. 

 

“Jace?” Alec asked. 

 

Jace turned to face Alec and answered, “Yeah?” 

 

“You know, you can put Herondale, but I know you’re a Lightwood. Your parents would be glad that you’re moving on and they would want you to be happy. They want the best for you, and you never have to be confused about your last name. You. Are. A. Lightwood. You have been since the day you came to live with us.” Alec said. Jace wiped a tear coming out of his eye and attacked Alec with a hug. 

 

“Jace Lightwood it is.” Jace smiled. He clicked the pen and scribbled, _Lightwood_ right next to his jersey number. Alec smiled and patted him on the back as they started to walk over to Izzy. 

 

“So?” Izzy asked, joining her brothers as they walked out of the gym. 

 

“You’re looking at the new Brooklyn Angels!” Jace said, spreading his arms out in pride. 

 

Izzy smiled and attacked her brothers in a hug. “I’m so proud of you two!” Izzy said, snuggling her head in between her brothers. Jace and Alec hugged her back just as hard, lifting her small legs off the ground. When they let go, Izzy kissed them both on the cheek and they walked over to the car. 

 

As Alec started the car and pulled out of the school driveway, Jace came to a realization. “What’s gonna happen to Izzy if we’re at basketball practice after school everyday?” 

 

Alec started panicking and Izzy only patted him on the shoulder, “I can hitch a ride with Raphael.” Izzy said. 

 

“I don’t think he’d be so generous to give you a ride every single day.” Alec said. 

 

“I already arranged it with him.” Izzy said, smiling, “Besides, I joined cheerleading, so our practices coordinate somedays.” 

 

“I thought you decided you weren’t gonna do it?” Jace asked. 

 

“Their cheer squad is the epitome of tragic. I’d be cruel to rid them of my talent.” Izzy said. 

 

“Well, I’m happy for you.” Alec said. 

 

“Yeah, Camille is on the team too.” Izzy said, enthusiastically. The happiness that Alec had for his baby sister had faded down. Camille, he had an awful feeling about her. He knew she was not good for Izzy, at all. The way she shot her down when Izzy was saying hi to Alec, Alec knew then that she was one to keep an eye out for. 

 

“You okay, Alec?” Izzy asked. 

 

“Yeah, fine.” Alec answered. 

 

“When did you try out?” Jace asked.

 

“Lunch.” Izzy answered. 

 

“Is Camille the captain?” Alec asked. 

 

“Who else?” Izzy asked. 

 

“I think they need a new captain if you said they were tragic.” Jace chuckled. 

 

“Don’t tell Camille I called her squad tragic.” Izzy pleaded, remembering what she had said.

 

“Don’t worry, I plan on never speaking to her.” Alec said. He breathed that last part under his breath so it was inaudible. Alec knew Izzy made friends with the HBIC of the Brooklyn Institute, but, Alec knew his sister. He knew as scary and intimidating Isabelle looked because of her dashing good looks, she was a more soft and sweeter person inside. Alec knew Camille had no sense of kindness in her blood at all. 

 

Alec and his siblings drove home in peace. They continued their discussion about school and teams. 

 

—

 

The next day, after school, Alec and Jace raced down to the gym, anxious for their first day at Basketball practice. 

 

Alec and Jace entered the gym to everyone already running around and doing their conditioning. 

 

“You ready?” Alec asked. 

 

“Born ready.” Jace said. He and Alec gave each other a clipped nod. 

 

When Alec and Jace went over to Coach Lovelace, he blew his whistle. Hustling his entire team to where Alec and Jace were standing. 

 

“Alright team! These are your new team members, Alec Lightwood and Jace Lightwood!” Coach introduced. The team nodded. “Make em feel welcome!” The team nodded once again and everyone went about their business. 

 

Coach threw a jersey and a pair of shorts at Alec and Jace. “Get changed.” Lovelace instructed. Alec and Jace wasted no time and headed right into the locker room. They changed into their shorts and jersey in a jiffy. 

 

Alec and Jace also brought their basketball shoes. Jace, especially was very proud of them. He thought they were the coolest. He would be searching about shoes all day and ordering new ones with every breath he took.

 

Alec and Jace walked out of the locker room and into the gym. The team was doing wind sprints. 

 

“Lightwood! Lightwood! On your feet! Get running!” Coach instructed. Alec and Jace gave him a nod and were on their way. Jace and Alec worked out regularly together, they both were in perfect shape. Running was Alec’s favourite work out, so these wind sprints were a breeze for Alec. No pun intended. When Alec and Jace ran together, they kept going until they were sure their legs were going to fall off if they didn’t stop. The boys here, were tall. Of course, they were basketball players. Alec was one of the taller ones. Not everyone was 6’3. Alec and Jace ran as if their lives depended on it. Coach Lovelace was impressed by their endurance and speed. The other boys were jaded, but Alec and Jace kept running, with no intention of stopping. 

 

“Lightwood! Lightwood! You’re done!” Coach called. Alec and Jace stopped running inter tracks and jogged lightly to join the rest of the team. 

 

“Alright, we’re doing lay-ups! Half of you grab a ball. Make two lines, ones with the balls on one side and the other’s on the other side. The one with the ball is going to do a layup and the one’s that are in the other line are going to get their ball and switch lines after you’re done! Am I clear?” Coach shouted. He enunciated every word he had said. 

 

The team nodded and half of them grabbed a ball. “You get a ball, I get in line, we go together?” Jace asked. 

 

“That’s the point.” Alec said. Jace nodded and ran into line. Alec grabbed a ball and made sure he would go when it was Jace’s turn. They decided to stick together, that was why they joined. Also, they were not aware of anyone else. 

 

Alec was placed right smack dab in the middle. Alec dribbled the ball and ra up, taking two steps before he was a mere couple inches from the net, stretching his arm out that had the ball to drop the ball into the net. Once Alec hit the floor, he ran to the other line and Jace grabbed the ball as it swished through the net and ran into the other line, next to Alec. 

 

“Nice!” Jace said, grinning. 

 

“Let’s see what you got.” Alec teased, smirking. 

 

“Oh, you went there!” Jace said. 

 

“Hell yeah brother!” Alec exclaimed. 

 

“Lightwood!” Coach called, both Jace and Alec darted their eyes to Coach. “Keep it up!” Both Jace and Alec grinned at each other, giving an air high five. 

 

These boys were actually really good. Jace and Alec were impressed by their lay ups and skills. That’s what they should have expected from a team from Brooklyn. It was Jace and Alec’s turn again.

 

Jace was a couple inches shorter than Alec, but was by no means at all, short. He was taller than most boys his age. Jace also, was an impressive jumper. His specialty was jumping and Alec’s was running. Due to Alec’s tall height, he could match up to Jace, no problem in jumping. 

 

Jace dribbled the ball expertly, the ball perfectly fitting in his hand. He was far enough from the net and was running fast enough to have the perfect momentum. Jace ran, until he was one feet away from the net. He lifted off his left leg, his right leg’s knee bent. He jumped as high as the net and with one hand, tipped the ball into the net, landing right back on his feet and to the back of the opposite line. Alec got the ball after it had fallen through the net and fell back into line. 

 

“Jace! That was amazing!” Alec said.

 

“I know, I’ve been practicing.” Jace shrugged. Alec smiled at his brother. 

 

“Lightwood!” Coach called again, Alec and Jace peered at Coach. He gave a nod of approval and Jace and Alec freaked out inside. They had impressed their coach on the first day! Maybe, in upcoming games, they would actually get to play. 

 

Alec and Jace shone like stars on the court. The team seemed to be impressed with them as well. After a couple more lay up runs, Coach called the team over. 

 

“So, we have time for a quick scrimmage. Shirts and Non-shirts.” Coach instructed. This was what Alec and Jace had been waiting for. A scrimmage. They both smiled. 

 

Coach picked out the teams, Jace and Alec had strategically placed themselves so they could be on the same team. They ended up being on the non-shirts team. 

 

“Alright, lose the shirts!” Coach instructed to Alec’s team. Alec was quite insecure of his body. He had no reason to be, but he was not a fan of people watching his naked chest. But, Alec decided no one else was looking, and he and Jace had seen each other naked more times than they’d like to admit. Alec slipped off his jersey and threw it in the corner along with Jace’s.

 

The other boys took one look at Jace and Alec’s ripped bodies and were in shock. Alec was also not a fan of the non shirts, because he didn’t want to be caught ogling someone’s naked chest. Alec thought of the game and got all thoughts of naked chests out of his head. He took a deep breath and stood next to Jace. 

 

“Find your man!” Coach instructed. Alec knew that meant whoever you were going to defend. Alec grabbed the first person that made eye contact with him. His name was Raj Bhandari. 

 

Alec stood next to him, hovering over him. Alec tended to make himself taller when he wanted to come off as intimidating. His height came in handy in times like those. Raj was an inch or two taller than Jace, so he and Alec were a little similar in height. Alec’s shoes made him an inch taller too. Raj looked fierce. Alec had seen him do those lay ups and run those sprints. He was more than impressive. 

 

Once Coach threw the ball in the air, the tip off had begun. The player on Alec’s team, Pangborn, had tipped the ball over to Alec. Alec had run to catch it. He held it tight in his possession. One of his leg sticking out so he can block Raj. Jace appears in front of him and Alec tosses the ball right to him, running up the court. Alec and Jace always had been one person on the court. They knew each other’s moves like the back of their hands. Jace had tapped Alec’s left hip as he passed Alec by. Alec new that meant that he wanted a pick right when he was up in the middle of the court. Alec rushed over to the other side, standing in position for when Jace’s man, Underhill, was over the line. Jace was standing at the middle court and Alec dashed over to place a pick on Underhill. The second Alec arrived at Undehill, Jace did not hesitate for a second to go. Once Jace had passed Alec and Underhill over the line carefully, he stood at the free-throw line. Underhill was all over Jace and Jace was bent over to give himself some wiggle room. Alec was behind Jace on the three point line. Jace pivoted and so did Underhill. 

 

Alec called for a pass, “Jace!” That immediately caught Jace’s attention, he chucked the ball right to Alec. Raj was off guarding Jace, they had decided to double team Jace. As the ball fit into Alec’s palm, he bent down and gripped the ball in his hand for a shot. Alec slowly brought the ball and his body up, lifting his feet off the ground and throwing the ball in a perfect arch. The ball landed straight into the net. 

 

“That’s it, Lightwood!” Coach called, his clipboard between his arm and torso, clapping his hands together. Alec jogged backwards back to his side of the court. Jace gave him a fist-bump and ran off. 

 

—

 

“Isabelle!” Camille called in the hallway after school, spotting her new friend. 

 

“Hey.” Isabelle said, pushing the strap of her backpack closer to her neck. 

 

“You ready for cheer practice?” Camille asked, excited. 

 

Isabelle nodded. She really wasn’t. When she told her brothers that she didn’t want to join the Cheerleading team, she had meant it. She hated cheerleaders. She always thought of them as shallow and stuck up. Now, she was becoming one. Camille had her under constant pressure to be a cheerleader. Camille was the head cheerleader, and what kind of friend would Isabelle be, if she didn’t join the team with Camille? A terrible one, apparently. Izzy wanted to get Camille off her back, so she gave in and agreed. Probably one of the worst decisions she had ever made. 

 

She walked over to the field where all the cheerleaders were stretching. Izzy changed into her black Nike tennis shorts, a plain white camisole and a pair of white Keds. She puller her hair into a ponytail. She looked ready for cheer practice on the outside, but on the inside, she wanted to go home. Raphael had probably already left and Camille would never let her live it down if she didn’t show up. 

 

“Okay squad!” Camille clapped, calling them over. Camille, herself did not the down at all for Cheer practice. She wore a blood red cropped camisole, exposing her midriff, a pair of Lululemon black leggings and white tennis shoes. Her hair was in a half up bun and half down hairstyle. Her lipstick remained intact, while Isabelle had removed hers. 

 

“This is Isabelle Lightwood, new member.” Camille said. Isabelle gave a wry smile and an awkward wave. Camille looked at her in disgust. Isabelle ignored it and the squad gave her a smile.

 

“Okay losers! Get to work!” Camille called. Isabelle had gotten a spot far away from Camille, on the other side of the field. Over there was a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She flashed Isabelle the prettiest smile. 

 

“Hey, I’m Lydia,” the girl introduced. 

 

“Isabelle,” Izzy said. 

 

“I know, you’re Camille’s new victim.” Lydia said. 

 

“Victim?” Isabelle asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

 

“Yeah, she usually has a friend who she treats like they’re her puppy dog and commands them around. Last year, it was her boyfriend, Magnus Bane. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him. But, yeah she cheated on him and he found out. He broke up with her, but she went around telling everyone she broke up with him and he cheated on her.” Lydia explained. Izzy was appalled. Camille ruined people’s lives. Alec had to have known about this. Unless, he hadn’t. She had to ask Magnus before she talked to Alec. 

 

“Thank you, Lydia. I’ll be careful.” Isabelle said, giving the girl a genuine smile. Lydia smiled back. Izzy went back to her stretching. 

 

Camille walked over to Isabelle and said, “What are you doing here? Stop hanging out with these lame cheerleaders.” Camille gestured to Lydia with her eyes when she said, ‘lame.’ 

 

Camille had her hands on her hips when she was talking to Isabelle and Isabelle did not budge. With her new found knowledge, she was not going to let Camille control her. 

 

“I’m good here,” Isabelle said. 

 

“No, you’re not,” Camille said. 

 

“I think I am.” Isabelle countered, her voice sterner.

 

“Well, then don’t come crawling back to me,” Camille said. 

 

“Trust me, I won’t,” Isabelle said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!! i am so excited because i'm seeing crazy rich asians tomorrow! my excitement caused me to binge write! i hope you enjoyed it! new chapter coming soon, i think. comment any mistakes you found so i can fix them!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some angst for our fav non-couple couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii! sorry this took so long. way longer than expected. i was on vacation and was not able to write. then, what i wrote, i lost because my computer was being annoying, so i had to rewrite the entire chapter. so, enjoy what i have i guess! 
> 
> all grammatical errors are mine, correct me in the comments! 
> 
> also, this chapter has a part i'm not really sure about. i attempted to write smut, it's not great. there are people out there who could do much better than i can, but i guess i'm joining unchartered territory and wanted to try something new. it's not much smut, it's one paragraph, literally. i will use * to mark where the smut starts and ends if anyone wants to skip it! 
> 
> also, we all are in the dreaded back to school season, school starts sO soon, so chapters won't be coming as often because i will be SWAMPED in work. 
> 
> i also see all your comments and kudos, they mean the world to me. thank you so much for your ongoing support, it warms my heart. thank you so much!! 
> 
> anyway, enjoy!

Izzy met her brothers at the car. They had arrived back in their school clothes, changed out of their basketball uniforms. Izzy was still in her cheer attire. She leaned up against the car, scrolling through her phone while she waited for her brothers. She sighed, and rolled her eyes, they were taking much more longer than necessary. When they finally came, Izzy’s neutral expression turned into glee and went to wrap her arms around Alec. Alec was unbelievable taller than Izzy. Without her ridiculous heels on, she looked like an ant compared to her big brother.

 

“Hey, you okay, Iz?” Alec asked when Isabelle abruptly wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back, his arms around her shoulders. 

 

“I guess,” Isabelle answered. She squeezed Alec tighter and Alec unhooked his arms from her shoulders. 

 

“Okay, Izzy, I can’t breathe,” Alec joked. Isabelle chuckled and let go. She smiled and hugged Jace who was standing there with a gigantic grin on his face. When she saw him she smiled broadly again and he opened his arms out for her to run into. 

 

“Iz, if something’s wrong you can always talk to Alec or I.” Jace said, stroking her hair back. 

 

“Can’t a younger sister be excited to see her brothers?” Izzy countered. 

 

“Never without ulterior motive,” Alec joked. Izzy let go of Jace and punched Alec jokingly on his bicep. 

 

“Seriously, Iz. What’s wrong?” Alec asked. Izzy’s joyful expression had faded and she went around to the car and tugged on the door handle, wanting to get into the car. Alec pressed the unlock button on his keys and the door clicked open. Isabelle was the first to step into the car and threw her bag across the seats. Jace and Alec followed her lead, dumping their duffel bags into the trunk before entering the two front seats.

 

“Iz,” Alec said, softer, “Belle,” 

 

Izzy’s head jerked up. Alec only called her ‘Belle’ when he was sufficiently worried about her or he needed to tell her something important. Isabelle knew he never threw around that special nickname. So, she started to listen to whatever he and Jace had to say.

 

“Iz, you gotta tell us what’s wrong,” Jace said. 

 

“It’s no big deal,” Isabelle said, waving a hand of dismissal. 

 

“Well, if it made you hug us in the school parking lot where everyone is watching, then it is important,” Jace countered. Isabelle let out a sigh bigger than usual. 

 

“Camille was being a bitch,” Isabelle said. 

 

“To you?” Alec asked, his voice sharp with protectiveness. 

 

“No, well, not really,” Isabelle said. 

 

“What the hell did she say?” Jace asked, gritting his teeth. 

 

“She was being a snob. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Izzy said, trying to dismiss the subject. 

“Iz, we all know, you do not hang with snobby people,” Jace said. 

 

“Yeah, you say, you have to be the biggest snob in the group,” Alec joked. 

 

“New York is not LA,” was all Izzy’s excuse. Izzy knew she could not go into detail what she heard without slipping up and telling Alec about Magnus. She knew, 100% that Alec had a little crush on Magnus and she was not about to get in the way of her big brother’s happiness. She kept that part to herself and she would consult with Magnus before saying anything to Alec. Now, all that was left for her to somehow get Magnus’ number. Alec had Magnus’ number. She needed a valid excuse to get his number. Then, it hit her. 

 

“Hey, big bro, can I have Magnus’ number?” Izzy asked. 

 

“Why?” Alec inevitably asked. 

 

“I need fashion and makeup tips from him, he’s fabulous,” Izzy said, in a ‘fashionista’ tone. Alec chuckled and recited the number as if it were the back of his hand. He said the number in one fluent motion, not stopping to rethink the number or even going on his phone to check the number. 

 

“Looks like our big brother has a little crush on Magnus Bane,” Izzy teased. 

 

“Do not,” Alec denied, defensively. 

 

“Sure,” Izzy said, in a sarcastic tone. 

 

“Shut up, Izzy,” Alec mumbled, throwing a wrapper at her that he found in a cup holder. 

 

“She’s not wrong,” Jace butted in. Of course, now it was 2 on 1. 

 

“We’re just friends,” Alec argued, whining. 

 

“Whatever,” Jace said, smirking. Izzy simply rolled her eyes and moved on. She was reminded of why she asked for Magnus’ number when she looked back at her phone. She needed to ask about Camille. 

 

—

 

The elder Lightwood siblings were greeted by a pleasant surprise when they arrived home. Alec heard the sound of punches from the living room and knew it could only be their devilish little brother. They had not seen Max in what felt like eternity. Alec slipped his backpack off and ran over to the living room. Izzy and Jace were not far behind. 

 

“Max!” Alec exclaimed the second he laid eyes on his baby brother. 

 

“Alec!” Max yelled, looking over his shoulder. He slid his headset off and threw the joystick on the sofa, running over to Alec. Alec was bent down on his knees to reach MAx’s height. Max ran straight into Alec’s arms and Alec completely enveloped him in himself. Max happily snuggled in closer. Alec got up and Max wrapped his legs around Alec, now carrying him. Alec and Max stayed close for a couple minutes until Jace and Izzy came around, tugging on each of Max’s arms. Alec chuckled, kissed Max’s forehead and carefully placed Max on the floor. 

 

“Hey buddy!” Jace said, tousling Max’s hair and Max hugging Jace’s legs. Jace wrapped an arm around Max’s neck and behind his legs, lifting him atop his shoulders. Max’s legs wriggled, and he punched Jace’s shoulder, begging him to put him down. 

 

“Missed you,” Jace said, placing Max down. Isabelle was quite small, but that did not stop her from wanting to carry Max like her brothers did too. Isabelle carefully placed her hands underneath Max’s arms and grabbed onto his knees as soon as he was lifted into the air. 

 

“Hey, Maxie, you’re getting big,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Yeah! Soon, I’ll be bigger than you,” Max cheered. 

 

“Well, no matter how big you are, I’ll always be your big sister,” Isabelle said, bopping Max’s small nose. 

 

Isabelle peppered kisses throughout all of Max’s face and placed him down on the ground. 

 

“Wanna help me make dinner?” Alec asked. 

 

Max nodded eagerly and grabbed onto Alec’s hand as they ventured off to the kitchen. 

 

“I wanna help too,” Jace said. 

 

“Great,” Alec said, gesturing for Jace to come join him and Max in the kitchen.

 

“Hey! Me too,” Izzy whined. Jace and Alec gave each other a look. They knew Izzy was a disaster in the kitchen. They were not going to let her mess up dinner too. 

 

“I think I have all the help I need, Iz, sorry,” Alec excused. Izzy placed her hand on her chest and opened her mouth wide, looking hurt. 

 

“My cooking isn’t that bad,” she argued. 

 

“Yeah, it’s worst,” Jace remarked, high fiving Alec and Max who laughed. 

 

“I hate having brothers,” Isabelle said, running off upstairs. 

 

“You love us,” all three Lightwood brothers called in unison as they saw their lone sister run up the stairs. 

 

Truth be told, Izzy was glad she had gotten off cooking duty. She had to call Magnus. She sat on her bed and pressed on Magnus’ contact. She slid the phone to her ear and anticipated Magnus’ answer. Magnus picked up after a couple rings. Izzy’s thumb nail was in her mouth and she was chewing on it. 

 

“Hello,” Magnus’ voice spoke. 

 

“Hey, Magnus, it’s erm Isabelle. Isabelle Lightwood,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Ah, yes, what can I do for you, dear,” Magnus asked. 

 

“I wanted to ask you about Camille,” Isabelle started. 

 

“Oh,” Magnus said, his voice dropping with disappointment. 

 

“If you don’t want to talk about her, I completely understand,” Izzy rushed as soon as she heard Magnus’ tone. 

 

“No, it’s alright, what do you want to know, dear,” Magnus said. 

 

“I just wanted to know about her,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Well, she’s vile, conniving, selfish, manipulative, destructive, toxic, poisonously gorgeous, intoxicating, but, other than that, she’s a completely lovely person,” Magnus said. 

 

“Right,” Isabelle said, speechless. 

 

“I’m telling you this, from first-hand experience, stay away from Camille, she’s bad for you,” Magnus said. 

 

“Alec knows about Camille and I, but I didn’t go into detail because I didn’t want to expose anything about yours and her past. I figured you’d wanna tell Alec,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Thank you, Isabelle,” Magnus said. 

 

“You’re welcome,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Isabelle, she hasn’t hurt you yet, has she,” Magnus asked. 

 

“No, no,” Isabelle said, “if she did, I can handle her,” 

 

“For all your Camille related problems, I’m your guy,” Magnus joked. 

 

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks Magnus,” Isabelle said. 

 

“If she ever does anything to you, do not hesitate to come to me,” Magnus warned. 

 

“I appreciate that, Magnus,” Isabelle said.

 

“You also have two very capable brothers who would give up their lives in a heartbeat if you asked them, don’t hesitate to go to them either. They love you and wanna protect you,” Magnus said. Isabelle smiled to herself, knowing what he said was a cold-hard fact. She was completely grateful for her heaven sent brothers. It was reassuring to know she had not one but two people who loved her for everything she had. 

 

“Thank you, Magnus, have a good day,” Isabelle said. 

 

“You too Isabelle, might I say, you looked lovely today, as always,” Magnus remarked. 

 

“Thank you, as did you,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Thank you, goodbye,” Magnus said, hanging up the phone. 

 

Isabelle smiled, knowing that maybe her Camille mess was still an issue, but she had brothers to protect her from that. She skipped downstairs to see if dinner was completed. 

 

—

 

The Lightwood siblings sat down for dinner. Alec scooped pasta onto everyone’s plates. He placed a plate in front of Max, one in front of Isabelle, one for Jace and finally one for him. He slid into the seat next to Max, in front of Jace who was sitting next to Isabelle. She was the real critique of tonight’s dinner. Her brothers had made it, and she was the only one left to give it the ‘Lightwood Stamp of Approval.’ Alec, Jace and Max watched Isabelle intently as she twirled her fettuccine on her fork and placed it in her mouth. Chewing slowly for effect. 

 

“So?” Jace asked. 

 

“Wow,” was all Isabelle said. 

 

“Success,” Max cheered, lifting a victorious punch into the air. 

  
Alec high fived Jace and Max, who did the same. Alec smiled and the boys dug in. All that cooking had them famished as well.

 

“So, Max, how was school,” Jace asked. 

 

“I haven’t been going to school,” Max said twirling his noodles on his fork. 

 

“What? Then what have you been doing,” Isabelle asked. 

 

“I mean, Mom and Dad had me testing a bunch of prep schools and it would get so late, that they would just end up having me stay with them at the office instead of dropping me home,” Max shrugged. 

 

“Oh, Max, you shouldn’t have to go through that,” Alec said, pulling Max in close by sliding his arm around his shoulders and tugging him in. 

 

“Yeah, what were Mom and Dad thinking,” Jace asked. 

 

“It’s fine,” Max said. 

 

“They said they found me a school and I start on Monday. So, I get the rest of the week off,” Max said. It was only a few days until Max started school too. Life started to fit in and feel normal again. New York was growing on all of them. 

 

Alec still found it strange that their parents would not drop Max home and take him to work instead. Did they not have any drivers to take Max home? Alec knew their parents refused to drive on their own, it was the first time Alec had seen his father drive when they drove up here. Alec, Jace and Izzy insisted their drive on their own. Their parents could not fathom why. Even then, they gave into their three children and respected their wishes. 

 

After all of the Lightwood siblings had finished their dinner, Alec had Izzy do dishes because that’s the only thing she can be trusted with in the kitchen. While Izzy did the dishes, Alec headed to his room, dreading to start the homework he was assigned. He would much rather read a new book or write. But, he could not be failing school. He grabbed his school work. Alec groaned as he grabbed it. Why did they have to give homework? Alec bit on the bottom of his pen as he read through the Chemistry questions. Alec skimmed over the questions and answered them to the best of his ability. Whilst he was in the process of wrapping his head around the questions, his phone pinged. He needed to focus, he had to resist grabbing his phone. It was probably his phone carrier company anyway, no one bothered texting him, ever. Alec fought off the urge to grab his phone. But, the curiosity was killing him. He hoped that someone would actually want to text him. By someone, he meant Magnus. In the back of his head, he knew it was his phone carrier company. Before he could change his mind, Alec grabbed ahold of his phone and checked the message. It was from Magnus. 

 

 

Alec’s heart soared. His face had a stupid grin on it. As much as he didn’t want to feel so giddy and get to flustered at a simple, _hey,_ he was. No denying. He opened the message and bit his lip before replying. 

 

_hey._ Alec texted back. Was it too aloof? Was his replying speed much too fast? He did not know, but he didn’t care at this point because he saw the three dots at the bottom. His smile grew. 

 

_What are you doing?_ Alec sighed, he was doing stupid Chemistry homework. 

 

_Chem homework, how about you?_

 

_I take pity on you, Alexander_

 

_Don’t you have to do it as well?_

 

_yeah, I’m done._

 

_Lucky_

 

_Well, I’ll leave you to it._

 

_No, actually, um, we could facetime if you want?_ Alec took a deep breath before sending that risky text. He did not want to come off to clingy and scare Magnus off. He really enjoyed his company. Alec did not receive a text back. The three dots had disappeared at the bottom and that was when Alec knew he messed up. He threw his phone back on his bed and dug his face into both of his palms. 

 

His sulking was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He opened it to see Magnus’ FaceTime call. Alec smiled and wiped the huge grin off his face when he picked up the call. 

 

“Hey,” Alec said, placing the phone down. 

 

“Alexander, the point of FaceTime is to see each other’s face,” Magnus said. 

 

“R-right, I’ll grab my erm laptop,” Alec said, walking off to his bed and grabbing his MacBook. He opened it up and picked up his phone to Magnus could see his face while Alec typed in the password of his laptop. 

 

Magnus laughed at Alec’s facial expressions as he typed in the password. He found it adorable. The boy was so cute without knowing it. Magnus could feel himself smile wider when he saw that adorning blush appear on Alec’s face.

 

“I’m gonna call you back, on my laptop,” Alec explained. 

 

“I’ll see you then,” Magnus said, cutting off the call. Alec did not waste a second and opened up his FaceTime app on his laptop and clicked on Magnus’ contact. His phone and laptop had been synced, so is contacts were already uploaded onto his laptop from his phone, saving him loads of time. The call went through and Magnus picked up in a matter of seconds. 

 

“Thank you for allowing me the luxury of seeing your gorgeous face,” was the first thing Magnus said to Alec when he connected. 

 

Alec was flustered and the only reasonable thing that came to mind was, “You’re welcome,” 

 

Magnus chuckled and noticed Alec’s notes. “Which question are you on?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Question 7, I’m never gonna finish,” Alec complained. 

 

“You’ll be fine, you have just two more questions to go,” Magnus reassured. 

 

“What were you doing?” Alec asked, as he dove back into writing his answers. He paid less mind to them, wanting to devote his entire attention to Magnus. But, school was important too. Well, sometimes. 

 

“Nothing, guess I would get to know my new friend better,” Magnus said. 

 

Alec cringed at the word ‘friend’ he wanted more. But, he could not say that to Magnus, not yet. Not when their friendship was blossoming and it was the only friend he had managed to make. Besides Simon. But, Alec was infatuated with Magnus far too much already and was not ready to lose that. 

 

“Well, what do you wanna know,” Alec asked, looking into the camera and then continuing to write. 

 

“Anything,” Magnus said. 

 

“There’s nothing to me. I’m the most boring person you’ll ever meet,” Alec shrugged, knowing that was his truth. 

 

“I beg to differ. I refuse to be friends with someone who thinks so low of themselves. Our conversations so far have not been less than exhilarating. A boring person does not have exhilarating conversations. Ever. All of ours have been, so I’d say, darling, you are not boring. Far from it,” Magnus said. 

 

“Thank you,” Alec said, with a newfound confidence. How was it so easy for Magnus to change Alec in a second? It completely astounded Alec, both in a way he was scared of it, but in a way he appreciated it and knew it was what he needed. 

 

“Now, tell me about you,” Magnus said. 

 

“Ask me what you want to know,” Alec instructed. 

 

“Okay, well then, pretty boy, when did you know you were gay?” Magnus asked. 

 

“I guess 13. Jace always talked about girls and I didn’t find any of them ‘arousing’ as you would say. I could tell that the football players were hotter than the cheerleaders,” Alec explained. 

 

“That’s one way to know, I found out when I was quite young actually. I think around 7 or 8. I was watching TV, I think _Victorious._ Sure, Tori, Jade and Cat were gorgeous, but, Beck was also h-o-t,” Magnus explained. 

 

“I knew yours was going to be some completely ballistic story,” Alec said. 

 

“Is that supposed to be insulting?” Magnus asked. 

 

“No, no, I was just saying, you don’t do anything like without flare. I like that about you,” Alec said, shyly. 

 

“I like that about myself too,” Magnus said, “what’s your favourite part about yourself?” 

 

“I never thought about it like that. Jace and Izzy always said it was my kindness or how much I cared, but, me personally, I don’t really have one,” Alec explained. Magnus quirked an eyebrow. 

 

“Alexander, you are lovely,” Magnus said. Oh, so he thought about it THAT way. 

 

“No, no. I like myself. I mean, I am comfortable with myself and obviously there are some things I want to change, but I guess I’m okay with myself. I don’t really like to focus on myself, I’m more kind of stay in the shadows. Which is great, because Jace and Izzy get the spotlight. Where they want to be and where they belong,” Alec said. He knew he liked himself. He was comfortable with himself. He was at terms with his being, including being gay. 

 

“Well, Alexander, I think you’re the one that belongs in the spotlight,” Magnus said in a smooth voice. 

 

“T-thanks?” Alec forced out.

 

“You’re welcome.” Magnus said, smiling. “now, have you had any boyfriends, or girlfriends?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Nope. I had a couple girls who liked me, and they asked me out, I was always unsure so I said, ‘thank you’ and ran off. Looking back that was embarrassing and probably not the best answer. But, no boyfriends. I haven’t ever been kissed. Hell, I haven’t ever been on a date, girl or boy,” Alec explained. “I’m sure you had plenty of boyfriends and girlfriends.” 

 

Magnus bit his bottom lip. He knew this was probably when he should tell Alec about Camille and their deep history. He knew Alec would understand. He needed to know, for Isabelle. Alec had to know for the sake of their friendship. What would Alec think if they were friends and Isabelle was stuck with Camille, and Magnus knew her awful ways and did not warn Alec about his little sister. Also, if there was the possibility that Alec liked Magnus back, and he found out about him and Camille from a third party, that would not be a pretty scenario. Magnus decided it’s best for Alec to know about Camille. 

 

“Yeah, I have had flings and a couple dates here and there,” Magnus started. 

 

“Ever been in love?” Alec deadpanned. This was where the Camille bomb came. 

 

“Yeah, once,” Magnus said, “well, I thought it was love,” 

 

“Oh no, you don’t have to talk about it,” Alec said. 

 

“No, I want to tell you,” Magnus said. “my first love was Camille,” 

 

Magnus saw the drop in Alec’s features when he told him about Camille. He had to have known about Isabelle and Camille. By the looks of it, it seemed as if he was not a big fan of her. Alec gulped and his mouth formed into the shape of an ‘O.’ Alec was not amused. 

 

“Did you know about Camille and Isabelle?” Alec asked, after an intense couple minutes. 

 

“I talked to her about it today,” Magnus replied, confidently. Alec had a tense face, as if he were majorly concerned about something. Something that was not getting out of his head. Magnus saw it plainly on his face, as much as he tried to hide it. He saw the change in expression when he mentioned Camille and now Isabelle. If Magnus were to guess, he’d guess Alec was worried about his sister. Didn’t hurt in trying to find out what it actually was, now did it?

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Just… Isabelle,” Alec started. 

 

“Carry on,” Magnus said. 

 

“I know she can handle herself. She’s strong and does not bend to anyone’s will except her own. But, I saw a change when shows with Camille. I waved to her and Camille whispered something to her and lowered her arm when she waved back to me. She seemed to listen to Camille. I don’t know why. She was always so hell bent and stubborn. Jace and I can never change her mind about anything and Camille had Izzy wrapped around her fingers in a mere couple of days. I just want her to be safe,” he explained. 

 

“As I told your sister, I will be there for her Camille issues. I’ve had plenty of them myself, so I’d like to think of myself as an expert now. Same goes for you, you can always talk to me. Even Blondie,” Magnus offered. 

 

“Thank you, Magnus, I appreciate it,” Alec said, with a genuine look of hope and happiness in his eyes. Magnus smiled looking at him. 

 

“You have a beautiful smile,” Alec blurted, watching Magnus’ grin widen. Alec could not help but return the smile. 

 

“Thank you, Alexander. You don’t have such a bad one either. You should show it more often,” Magnus winked. 

 

Alec blushed a sanguine red and ducked his head, “Thanks,” Alec croaked out. Alec was not one to receive compliments often. He generally found himself giving them. Jace and Izzy always asked how they looked. Alec went above and beyond whilst complimenting them, to please his siblings. They both always turned out quite satisfied with themselves after Alec was done showering them in compliments. Alec did not mind this. Not at all. If compliments made his siblings happy, he would give them as many as he could. Even though they could all be extremely annoying at times. Alec would walk to the ends of the Earth for them. 

 

Alec heard his door open. He turned to see who it was and it was his little sister in her pyjamas, her hair washed, her contacts in and barefoot. She was getting ready for bed. 

 

“Hey big bro,” Izzy said, walking over. 

 

“Ever heard of knocking, Izzy?” Alec asked, ticked at Isabelle. 

 

“No,” Izzy said, shamelessly, draping herself over her brother’s shoulders and seeing what he was doing. 

 

“Oh, hey Magnus,” Isabelle said, noticing who Alec was talking to on the computer. 

 

“Isabelle, looking as lovely as ever,” Magnus said. 

 

“Please. I look awful. Thank you though,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Of course. But, darling, I must say, those glasses suit you,” Magnus winked. Izzy giggled and kissed Alec’s cheek. 

 

“Goodnight lovebirds!” Izzy exclaimed, walking out of Alec’s room. Alec’s cheeks went red again when she called them lovebirds. Alec fought it off and made it go away. 

 

“Darling, you really look lovely when you blush,” Magnus said. 

 

“T-thank you,” Alec said. 

 

“Only telling you the truth,” he said. 

 

“So, tell me about yourself. You know my entire life story and I know nothing about you,” Alec said, clearing his throat. 

 

“Well, I am bisexual. Or, a freewheeling bisexual as I like to call myself,” Magnus said. 

 

Alec smiled at his comment. Leave it to Magnus to turn everything more…. _Magnus_. Alec was so okay with that. It was apart of who Magnus was. He was so unapologetically himself, it was inspiring. 

 

“I know,” Alec chuckled. 

 

“Right, well, I live with Clary and Luke. Cat is my best friend, she is far too good for anyone. Ragnor and Raphael are also my best friends, but I would never tell them that. They are completely insufferable. Sherwin is Raphael’s boyfriend and Biscuit’s best friend so he fits right into our little group. When I was in London, for the short time that was, I went to school. I met Jem, Tessa and Will, who I love and regained touch with recently. They were my first real friends. I loved London and want to go again, mainly to see my three friends again. I’ve dated a lot. I mean a lot, for the short period of time that I’ve been alive. Camille was my first love. Although, I don’t think I was in love with her, I waist love with the idea of her and being in love. She was there and I let her consume me, and I mistook that for love. I love cats and want one really badly. If I were to name the cat it’d be ‘Chairman Meow’ or ‘The Great Catsby.’ Also, I love turtles and if I got one of those, I’d name it ‘Voldetort.’ Um, I also am an aspiring fashion designer. Hopefully going to NYU. My backup plan would be a model, because honestly, with a body like mine who wouldn’t want me? I love makeup, clearly. I can do it better than most people I’ve seen, not to toot my own horn. My favourite show is ‘How To Get Away With Murder.’ My favourite movie is, ‘The Great Gatsby,’ obviously. My favourite colour is glitter and yeah. That’s me in a nutshell,” Magnus said. 

 

“Woah,” Alec said, listening intently throughout and was in awe of Magnus. His eyes went wide. It was certain, there truly was no one in the Universe like Magnus Bane and that was what attracted Alec so much to him. Alec found himself more and more aroused by Magnus as he spent more time with him. His voice itself was so perfect. Sultry and velvety. Alec could listen to him talk all day and not be bored. 

 

“There’s no one like you, Magnus,” Alec said. 

 

“I know,” Magnus smiled, proud of himself, “you know enough now?”

 

“Not nearly enough,” Alec said. He felt so brave with Magnus. As if he were the king of the world. Alec would never be so open with anyone, especially in such a short amount of time. It terrified Alec, but at the same time, he wanted more. He craved it. The newfound bravery Magnus made him feel was a feeling Alec never wanted to go away. But, the feelings Alec had for Magnus grew more and more as he saw him and talked to him. That was scary. How quickly he could be so infatuated with someone. He knew Magnus did not feel the same. That was even more scary. With every growing second, it was getting more and more difficult to ignore his feelings for Magnus. 

 

“Glad to hear it. You won’t be getting rid of me anytime soon, Lightwood,” Magnus winked to Alec. 

 

Alec was too flustered to say anything else. He looked at the time and saw it was approaching 10pm and he had not finished his homework. 

 

“Magnus, as much as I adore talking to you, which I do. I have to finish my homework, and you’re distracting me,” Alec said. 

 

“Darling, are you calling me distracting?” Magnus asked. 

 

“No no, not in that way. I just need to finish this,” Alec panicked. 

 

“Don’t worry, I take it as a compliment. Goodnight, Alexander,” Magnus said. 

 

“Goodnight,” Alec said, cutting off the call. He had homework to do, yes, but that was not what he was gonna do. He had to vent. He had to talk to his sister. Alec shut the door behind him as he left his room. He went to Isabelle’s room. She was on the phone. With someone. Alec barged in as she did before. 

 

“Hold on, my brother’s here. I’ll talk to you later, can you end the call?” Isabelle said, taking the phone off her ear and placing it on her bedside table. 

 

“To what do I owe the pleasure, brother dearest?” Isabelle asked, patting her bed, for Alec to sit. Alec not on sat on the bed he laid down and buried his face in his hands. 

 

“Isabelle,” Alec started. 

 

“Yes?” Isabelle asked. 

 

“Why do I have to be gay?” Alec asked. He was furious at himself for his growing feelings for Magnus. 

 

“Because you want to be,” Isabelle said, comforting him. 

 

“I know, and I like Magnus so much,” Alec said, whining.

 

“Is that such a bad thing?” Isabelle asked. 

 

“No, but he’ll never like me back. I’m falling so hard and fast for him. He makes me feel so brave and so powerful. When he’s around me, I lighten up and I smile more. That’s never happened! He’s doing things to me,” Alec complained. 

 

“You never know,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Yeah, I do. He only sees me as a friend. It’s getting harder to push my feelings away and I know it’s going to be worst from here,” Alec said. 

 

Isabelle removed her brother’s hands from covering his face and kissed his forehead. “ _Hermano,_ being gay is not bad. Liking someone is not bad. You never know if he likes you back or not if you don’t ask him,” Isabelle said. 

 

Alec sat up and kissed her temple, “Thanks, Izzy, I’m gonna call it a night. Don’t stay up too late. You put Max to bed?” 

 

Izzy nodded in return and walked back to his room. 

 

What Izzy and Alec did not realize that the call was still on. As soon as Alec and Izzy’s conversation was over, they ended the call. When Izzy opened her phone again, the call was over. They heard everything. Izzy was on the phone with Maureen Brown, part of Camille’s posse. What Isabelle did not know, was Maureen was on speakerphone with Izzy when her and Alec were talking, and with Maureen was none other than Camille Belcourt herself. 

 

—

 

Alec went back to his room to hide out. He still had his homework piled on his desk, haunting him. Alec needed a break. He was not at all in the headspace to do anything that required his brain to work. So, he did the only logical thing and stripped himself of his clothes and hopped into the shower. 

 

_*smut starts*_  


Alec pressed a dollop of shampoo into his hair and massaged it around, to clear his brain. Once it all covered his hair, he walked back so his head was directly underneath the shower-head. He shakes the shampoo out of his head and once it’s gone, although he assumes his head is clear, thoughts of Magnus come back floating into his head. Alec feels blood rushing through his veins, down there. He takes a deep breath and rests his head against the wall of his shower. He looks down and stares at his half-hard dick. As much as he fights it off, he sees Magnus’ beautiful eyes. Alec groans. Just this once, he’ll do it. Alec hands reach down and graze his dick. Woah. Alec thinks of Magnus’ luminous smile. He strokes his length, slowly and carefully, staring up as he does it. As more thoughts of Magnus flood his head, the more hard he gets. He now fully wraps his hand around his length and thrusts into it hard. He can feel the clapping of his butt to the wall. He doesn’t care. His cock is demanding attention. As he thrusts, a wave of guilt washes through Alec’s brain. He was jerking off to Magnus, who he just talked to. What an awful person, he was. He decides to stop. He removes his hand, before he gets too out of hand. He goes back under the shower-head. His dick still fully erected. Then, he hears Magnus calling him ‘ _Alexander’_ and that’s it. Alec can’t take it anymore. He can do it, just once. Only once. He grabs his cock again, leaning back to the wall, his back hits the cold wall and his eyes flutter close. He replays Magnus calling him _Alexander_ , in his sweet, smooth voice. Alec cups his balls with his free hand and thrusts back into his fist. He moans and releases white fluid all over his fist. Magnus calling him _Alexander_ as he does his finally thrust. Once his business is taken care of, he stands back in the shower, cleaning himself off. He’s overwhelmed, causing his chest to be heavy as he’s done. Before anything else happens, Alec quickly finishes his shower and changes into black boxer briefs. 

* _end of smut*_

He grabs his phone to reveal a text from Magnus. _Good luck with homework, Alexander. Text me if you need help!_

 

Alec is ashamed. He just jerked off to this wonderful person who is offering him help! Not just this time. Magnus has been so helpful with everything and so understanding. What does Alec do, he masturbates to this sweet person who means well. He knows, that he won’t be able to look Magnus in the eyes tomorrow. 

 

—

 

After a couple dreadful hours when Alec finally finishes his homework, he lays down to sleep. He lays awake after he hits his head in his pillow. Alec knows he likes Magnus. He feels something for him. Whatever it is, it’s completely new and strong, to say the least. Alec is completely afraid of how strong his feelings are growing. He runs the thought of if actually Magnus was interested in him, and they started dating. It was a pleasant thought. Alec thought of all the things he’d tell him and how they’d cuddle and do domestic couple things together. How they’d kiss. Alec then thought, Magnus has experience. Like a lot of it. Alec has none. The most sexual thing he’s done was just in the shower a couple hours ago. Alec was now wary. What did this mean? Would Magnus pressure him into sex? No way, Magnus would never do that. But, then Alec would be holding Magnus back. How he was caging him. Alec would never want that. Then, Alec thought of Camille and Magnus. How Magnus was so head over heels in love with her, and how he may not be over her. He did not want to burden Magnus with the unbearable weight that is his feelings. Alec would stay cautious of Magnus and give him his time. Maybe if there was space, his feelings would fade away. 

 

—

 

The school days seemed kind of a blur. Alec sat at a table with the basketball team. He steered clear of Magnus all day, until chemistry, where he was Alec’s lab partner. 

 

Magnus noticed Alec’s estranged behaviour. He was acting odd, ever since the FaceTime call. Magnus worried it was about Camille. Which he did not at all want. Camille was ruining his life when she had been removed form it countless times. You never really do get rid of Camille Belcourt, now do you? 

 

Alec had stopped sitting with them at lunch, but at times, Magnus would catch Alec staring right at him. When Magnus stared back, Alec would avert his gaze. Magnus found it to be the oddest thing. He did not want to ask Isabelle or Jace. He knew they’d make him ask Alec and be of no help. The truth was, he missed Alec. Even though he had only known him for barely a week, he had unlocked something in Magnus. When he met with Camille his heart skipped a beat, sure, but, when he met Alec, his heart stopped beating all together. That had to be something, right? Now he knew Alec. When he was finally getting through to Alec, he stopped talking to him. Magnus was pathetic. He ranted to Catarina, Ragnor, Tessa, Jem, Will and Raphael. Though, Raphael could care less. Raphael and Ragnor only laughed at him. Was he that desperate that he was now going to Sherlock? Or whatever his name was. It’s too hard to remember. Biscuit’ll tell him later. But, Simon seemed to be friends with Alec and Alec was actually interacting with Simon in the halls and class. So, there must be something. 

 

—

 

Steering clear of Magnus was more difficult for Alec than he thought. He often found himself staring right at Magnus wistfully. He missed Magnus. Not just because he had feelings for him, but because he missed his company. Magnus was a great listener. He had actually listened and understood where Alec was coming from, then gave him advice based upon that. Alec missed how brave Magnus made him feel. But, he had to have space from Magnus too. 

 

Two weeks had passed now. Max was going to school, Isabelle was dealing with Camille and Magnus was fully involved, as was Alec, Jace and Alec were the superstars of the basketball team, Magnus missed Alec and Alec missed Magnus. So, nothing out of the ordinary. 

 

Alec hadn’t seen his parents in weeks. Ever since he saw them bring Max home, he had not seen them since. Jace and Izzy hadn’t seen them since they moved. Max was glad he didn’t have to see his parents. He loved them and all, but they bothered him with their work, and argues about him all the time. He would never tell his siblings, but he heard his parents arguing about him and his siblings. How they both are unhappy in this marriage and how they are only together because of him. Max hated seeing them argue. They were his parents, after all. He did not know a life in which they were not together. But, maybe their life would be different if they had divorced. Max did not want to be the reason of unhappiness. He knew his siblings would take a stand, and he did not want to cause ruckus. So, he kept all this bundled up in his head. 

 

“I miss Magnus,” Alec said to Izzy. He had been complaining to her and Jace. But, at this point he had vented to Jace an absurd amount of times and now it was time to move onto his next sibling, Izzy. 

 

“I know, _Hermano,”_ she cooed. She ran her hands through his hair, comforting him and fixing it. His hair was a real mess, “remind me why you aren’t talking to him,” 

 

“Camille, and I need space,” Alec said. 

 

“Why exactly?” Izzy asked. 

 

“Because, Camille has been ruining you, and she ruined him too. I want him to be healed before I burden him with the weight of my feelings. Also, maybe if I have space, they’ll go away and him and I can be friends again,” Alec said. 

 

“You’re so dumb sometimes, _amor,_ ” Izzy muttered. 

 

“What do you mean?” Alec asked. 

 

“Nothing, _hermano,”_ she said, kicking him out of her room. 

 

—

 

Talking to Sherwin was easier than Magnus had expected. He was quite understanding and he knew exactly what to say. He seemed confused at the same time though. 

 

“What do you mean Alec’s been acting strange? He seems fine to me,” Simon said. 

 

“I mean, he has been avoiding me and he stares at me, but when I look back he looks away. In Chemistry, he sits as far away as possible from me, he keeps the interactions to a minimum, even in the hallway, he doesn’t bother saying anything. He just looks at me and walks away,” Magnus explained. 

 

 

“Did you tell him anything that would make him run off?” Simon asked. 

 

“I mean, I told him about Camille,” Magnus said. 

 

“Oh,” Simon said, grazing his fingers on his chin, “I see.” 

 

“What, Sherwin?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Nothing, I know what to do,” Simon said. 

 

“What?” Magnus asked. 

 

“Leave it up to me,” Simon said, patting Magnus’ shoulder twice before walking off to find Alec. It was after school at this point and looking at the time, Alec was probably still at basketball. 

 

—

 

Alec and Jace fist bumped before walking into the locker room. They had finished basketball practice and wanted nothing more than to get home now. Isabelle had hitched a ride with Raphael, who was more than generous to give her one. Alec was still confused on the dynamics of their relationship. They seemed to get along fine. Great even. But they were the most opposite two people could be. Nonetheless, Alec was glad Isabelle had a friend other than that skank, Camille. Raphael had even started to come over. He and Isabelle would hang out for hours, and no one would notice. Isabelle would even go to his house and not be back for times you’d be concerned. 

 

Alec walked to the car with Jace, who was carrying both of their duffle bags. As Alec started the car and drove home, he passed by Luke’s bookstore. He took in a gulp and was reminded of how much he liked Magnus and missed him. 

 

Alec swallowed his feelings and kept driving, making sure that Jace did not see or hear anything that would cause him any concern. Alec drove and drove, until his phone rang, causing the music to stop playing all of a sudden. The phone was connected, via bluetooth to the car, and Simon’s number appeared on his screen. 

 

Alec pressed the screen and picked up, “Hey, Simon,” Alec said. 

 

“Hey, Alec, can we talk?” Simon asked. 

 

Alec was dumbfounded. What did Simon Lewis need to talk to him about? There was no problems in the homework and he knows that even if there was, Simon knows Alec has basketball and was not able to start it yet. 

 

Muddled, Alec said, “Sure, when?” Alec thought it was the only answer that made sense in this scenario. 

 

“I’ll come over, I have dinner with Raph anyway,” Simon said. 

 

“So, you’ll be there in an hour?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yup,” Simon answered, popping the ‘p’ and ending the call. 

 

“That was weird,” Alec said. 

 

“Why?” Jace asked, looking at Alec as if he were crazy. 

 

“What would Simon need to talk to me about?” Alec asked. 

 

“He knows and obviously he would not ask you right now to talk if it wasn’t urgent,” Jace said. Alec thought what Jace said made sense. Besides, it was Simon, he was harmless. Simon was one of the sweetest people Alec had met, and Alec knows Simon hates confrontation. This probably was just a Simon-like problem. Alec shrugged it off and drove home, his music playing after the call with Simon was over. 

 

—

 

Once Alec and his brother arrived home, they saw Raphael and Izzy standing at the door. Isabelle was saying goodbye to him. 

 

“I’ll see you soon,” Isabelle said. 

 

“Goodbye, Isabelle,” Raphael said. 

 

“Hey, Raph, we heard you were having dinner with Simon,” Jace said. 

 

“First of all, it’s Raphael to you. Second, I think I’m allowed to have dinner with my boyfriend, whom I love without it being a big deal,” Raphael snapped. Jace backed off and clid past him inside the penthouse. Alec followed giving Raphael a clipped nod, the way he liked it.

 

“Hey, Raphael, Simon has to talk to me about something, so he might be late for dinner,” Alec called off as Raphael was unlocking the door to his penthouse. 

 

“I know, he texted,” Raphael groaned and slammed the door shut. 

 

Alec shrugged and ran upstairs to take a quick shower before Simon came. He was not intending on killing him with the nauseating stench of his clothes.

 

Alec was in and out of the shower within minutes. Isabelle was questioning if he actually even took a shower. Unlike his siblings, Alec does not waste precious hours of his life standing around in the shower. Once they’re in, it’s almost impossible to drag them out. Why was Alec stuck with all the stubborn brats? What had he done to deserve this? By the time Simon had reached, Alec had finished with dinner and had sat down to do his homework, _yuck._

 

“Hey Si,” Alec greeted, leaning on the door. 

 

“Hey, Alec,” Simon said, getting him with the same warm smile he does everyone, he peered behind the door until Alec got the hint. 

 

“Right, come in,” Alec said, not understanding what Simon was doing for a while. Once he was inside, Alec sat Simon down in the living room, and unlike the door incident, Alec was a gracious host. He asked Simon if he wanted anything or if he needed anything just ask. You know, generic stuff you ask ever guest to be ‘a good host.’ 

 

“You sure you don’t need anything?” Alec asked. 

 

“Yup,” Simon said. 

 

“So, what did you need to talk to me about?” Alec asked. 

 

“Um, it’s about Camille,” Simon said. 

 

_This_ was not what Alec was expecting, in the slightest. Camille? What history did Simon have with Camille? Why was he telling Alec? 

 

“I’m not sure if you know, I had a huge crush on Camille,” Simon started, “before I started dating Raph, so like near freshman year,” Simon cleared his throat, this was all news to Alec. “Magnus and Camille had started dating soon after that. Well since Clary is my best friend and her and Magnus are siblings, I was always around Magnus. I saw the way she controlled him. She was completely all over him. It was disgusting. Always whining, she would not let Magnus hang out with us when he was with her. Clary hated her, for good reason too. When I heard about Camille and Magnus, at first, I was infuriated. I decided I hated Magnus and was envious of him. But, when I _saw_ them with my own two eyes, I saw how much trouble he was in. I know Magnus, once he’s in, he’s in. He loved her and you could see she couldn’t give a single shit if he loved or died. She was simply using him for her will. He was such an idiot too, he bent to her will, until he saw her cheating on him, with his own two eyes. She had affairs, but this one was the only one Magnus knew of. We found out about these affairs before Magnus did. As our solemn duty as his friend, we all warned him. He was worried when we first told him and went to ‘talk’ to Camille. When he came back, he started going off at us. He accused us of lying and trying to destroy his relationship. The words he said really hit hard. A couple months ago, he finally broke up with her when he saw her with Sebastian Verlac, in bed. Camille destroyed Magnus. Trust me when I say, all of Magnus’ feelings for Camille are long gone, if that’s what you’re worried about. He hated her the second he saw her in that bed. He’s not going back to the lowest point of his life anytime soon. He’s moving on. He was destroyed not because he still loved Camille because he hated himself. The way he acted when he was with Camille. He apologized to all of us so many times. I lost count. He regretted his actions, not Camille’s.” Simon looked at Alec when he finally finished his speech. Alec was still confused. 

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Alec asked, getting straight to the point. 

 

“That’s what I was getting to. You know how I said ‘Once he’s in, he’s in’?” Simon asked, looking up at Alec to get a response. Alec gave him a nod, remembering he did, in fact, say that.

 

“Well, he was completely invested in your friendship. I heard he told you about his past, about foster care?” Simon asked, cocking an eyebrow. Alec nodded, fidgeting with his hands. 

 

“Well, even I don’t know that. I’m pretty sure he told Raph, Cat and Ragnor in high school, after years of knowing them! You, he told in a week!” Simon said. Alec felt more guilt rise up to him and he started sweating. His fidgeting got more intense as Simon looked at him. Alec simply nodded, dropping his head down in shame. 

 

“Alec, listen, I don’t know why you stopped talking to Magnus, but he’s pretty miserable without you,” Simon said. “Raphael said he’s annoyed of Magnus bothering him all the time. When you came into his life, it was the first time any of us had seen him smiling in a long time. He was destroyed when their relationship ended, and when he met you, he had a new ray of hop. I had never seen Magnus so excited about anything, especially something like Chemistry. You know he hated Chem before you? He dreaded it, it was his least favourite, now he loves it.” Simon said. Alec chuckled.

 

“I don’t know how I’ll face him after all the pain I’ve caused him,” Alec said. 

 

“Well, do you miss him?” Simon asked. 

 

Alec nodded, not meeting Simon’s gaze. That was all the answer Simon needed. He slapped Alec’s shoulder twice and said, “I have a way,” 

 

Alec’s head jerked up, in one heartbeat. He was intently listening to Simon, eyes boring into him, anxious for an answer. 

 

“There’s a party,” Simon said. 

 

“I don’t do parties, if you haven’t realized already,” Alec remarked. 

 

“This is Ragnor’s party. It’s the grandpa’s birthday. Magnus’ll be there, obviously. Bring Izzy and Jace if it helps. I’ll be there the entire time and Raph too,” Simon said. 

 

“Okay, I guess that’s where it won’t be awkward,” Alec said. Still unsure, but he trusted Simon to help him. 

 

“I’ll text you the details. It’s tomorrow though, so clear up your schedule.” Simon instructed. Alec nodded, it wasn’t like he had any other friends anyway. Alec knew Isabelle and Jace would be more than happy to go to another party. They wanted to find out how New York really did parties. They heard rumours that Magnus throws the best parties. Knowing what Alec knows about him, he has no doubt in that theory. He simply nodded and let Simon out. 

 

“Have fun at dinner with Raphael,” Alec said. 

 

“I will,” Simon smiled at just his name. He waved goodbye to Alec and proceeded next-door where Raphael lived. Alec watched by the door to see if Simon was let in safely and went back inside. He had to tell Isabelle about this ‘party.’ 

 

“Hey, Izzy,” Alec asked. 

 

“Yes, brother dearest?” Isabelle asked, Alec walking in and shutting the door behind him. 

 

“There’s um a party tomorrow,” Alec started. Izzy perked up at the mention. 

 

“Who’s throwing it?” Izzy asked, eagerly. 

 

“Well, it’s Ragnor’s birthday, so I think Ragnor or probably Magnus,” Alec smiled at his name. 

 

“You want to go?” Izzy asked, raising her eyebrows. 

 

“Well, yeah.” Alec said. 

 

“Okay, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like this. I’m in! Tell Jace!” Izzy said. Alec kissed her forehead and walked out of her room. 

 

He knocked on Jace’s door, “Hey,” Alec said, entering the room. Jace was laying on his bed on his phone, Alec guessed he was not disturbing anything in particular. 

 

“What’s up?” Jace asked, sitting up. Alec went and sat on Jace’s bed. Jace came forward to sit next to him. 

 

“What would you say to go to a party Magnus is throwing tomorrow night?” Alec asked. Jace smiled. Alec already knew the answer. 

 

“You know I’m in, brother!” Jace exclaimed, clapping Alec’s shoulder. 

 

“Also, you want to go to this party?” Jace asked, raising his eyebrows, similar to how Izzy did it. They really are siblings. 

 

“Yeah, I mean, why not?” Alec said. 

 

“Also, this party Magnus is throwing. Aren’t you avoiding him?” Jace asked, interrogating further, when he saw the look on Alec’s face, he understood everything. “ _This_ is your way of patching things up with Sparkles?” Jace asked. 

 

“Well, no, I’m gonna talk to him, may as well be in a situation where it’s not awkward,” Alec shrugged. 

 

“Your call.” Jace said, “Dress nice,” he called as Alec exited his room. Now, he had a party to go to, where everyone is going to be drunk and annoying. He’ll probably spend his time taking care of his two idiotic siblings instead of talking to Magnus. Alec is always their chaperone. He holds Izzy’s hair back when she’s puking her guts out and holds Jace’s drinks when he knows he’s past his tolerance. He also has to take them out of situations where they may swallow their tongues and get into trouble. 

 

Let’s say, Alec was not looking forward to that part of the party. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! leave a comment or anything, if you want. i won't be mad if you don't. your read means the world! also, i hope the smut wasn't too much,, i tried something new and i'm not completely sure it makes sense, but i mean it's out there! have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it! thank you for reading! i appreciate it more than you know :) sorry it was kinda long,,


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